


Stargate Atlantis - Legacy: Part I

by Lady_Mayrid



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alien Culture, F/M, Multi, POV Alternating, Suggestive Themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2018-03-24 19:35:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 222,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3781816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Mayrid/pseuds/Lady_Mayrid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nine months after their return to Pegasus, the situation in Atlantis has gotten desperate. The wraith have increased their aggressions while, back home, Storm and the IOA continue to scheme leaving the city barely sustainable. But when the aid General O'Neil is finally able to send them  turns out to be a woman from Sheppard's past, the consequences of her arrival are staggering. </p><p>OR</p><p>A realistic idea of how a human and a wraith might fall in love amidst adversity, culture clash and overprotective big brothers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Genesis

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there and welcome to Stargate Atlantis - Season 7! This is the revised edition of the same story posted on my ff.net account so if you’re a new reader, I advise sticking to this version rather than hopping on over to the other one; you’ll be much less confused this way. That said, I’ll make this quick.
> 
> I started writing this project several years ago after the announcement that the show would not be renewed for a sixth season came out. At the time season 5 was about half-way over so if you notice some things that don't match up to the end of the series that's why. By the time season 5 was over I'd already laid so much of the groundwork for the story that changing it in order to incorporate some minor details just wasn't worth it. Therefore I guess you could call this an AU but even then, I tried very hard to keep with the continuity of the series. That being said, I'd like to state right now for the record that I only consider what actually aired on TV to be canon. I know there are books and I have read them however; upon comparing the Legacy series with the rest of it, I feel there's a rather large disconnect between the two which is why I've chosen to ignore them. And that's just my opinion. Personally I liked the books just not as a continuation of the show.
> 
> And also, as a note to first time readers, the following story is, at its heart, a love story. That's not to say that there's not a lot of action and snarky comments, there is in fact bucket loads of both and the 'M' rating is primarily for violence and adult themes. However; I've always been intrigued by the idea of a wraith falling in love with a human while maintaining all the qualities that make him/her alien and different. Too often I've read stories where in order to get such-and-such wraith to fall for such-and-such human the author humanizes the wraith to the point where the wraith is no longer, well, a wraith. Which is why I decided to write my own take on it so here it is, I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. And if when you're done, you feel so inclined, I'd love to hear from you. Reviews are the only way fanfiction authors get paid so drop a penny in my cup and make my day.
> 
> Read, Review and enjoy!
> 
> Cheers!

**Episode I: Genesis**

General Jack O'Neill had a headache.

For the past three hours he and the IOA had been arguing back and forth over what to do, if anything, about the growing number of Wraith attacks against Atlantis. Nine months ago the city of the Ancients had been returned to Pegasus despite the protest of the IOA. Since then, Atlantis had experienced an almost constant onslaught of aggression from their longtime nemesis. They were running low on everything from food to men, and if something weren’t done, and soon, the city would either have to be abandoned or called back to Earth. And since the IOA hadn't really wanted to let the city return in the first place, the longer Jack listened to Storm and his cronies shoot down any and all suggestions for a possible relief effort, the more he wondered if their reluctance to provide aid wasn't because there wasn't any aid to be had, but because letting the city bottom out was actually the plan. If at any time in the near future Atlantis could no longer do its job, the IOA would no doubt order it brought back to Earth so they could have it stripped of its technology.

And while it was a great plan so far as the people of Earth were concerned, it would completely screw over the people of Pegasus because Atlantis and her team were currently the only force capable of taking on the Wraith. The way Jack saw it they didn't have much of a choice. It was through the actions of the exhibition team that all the Wraith had been woken up in the first place. Therefore they, and Earth, had an obligation to put things back to sorts.

Not so when arguing with the IOA. The civilian run oversight committee was notoriously xenophobic and didn't really give a damn about who they screwed over so long as, in the end, they got what they wanted. They were also short sighted as all hell. Concerned only with the here and now, Jack wondered if they'd really thought about what would happen if Atlantis was removed from Pegasus and was no longer a deterrent for the Wraith in reaching the Milky Way. Earth might've been safe if the wraith were ever to gain a foothold in this galaxy but the same could not be said of everybody else. Jack had read enough of Sheppard's reports to know that the Wraith were unlike any enemy they'd ever faced before. Essentially immortal, ageless,  incredibly strong and resilient, alarmingly intelligent with startling mental abilities that included telepathy and mind control, feeding habits that had enslaved an entire galaxy and access  to highly advanced technology; the Wraith were worse than the Goa'uld and the Ori combined.  Taking Atlantis out of Pegasus was basically inviting them to come take over the Milky Way and Jack was dammed if he was gonna let the IOA's shortsighted stupidity completely screw  over everyone.

"Oh for crying out loud!" he cried, cutting Storm off mid excuse. Then, before the man could find a second wind, "There's got to be something we can do! We can't just do nothing. We've got -"

"The Stargate Program does not have unlimited funds General," Carl Storm, IOA committee head, said smoothly, "We can't just magically make troops and resources appear when we've no way to pay for them."

Jack glared at the man. "And the one-point-six _billion_ dollars you all pulled out of your ass for the ' _Icarus Project'_ was what? Chump change?" the general clasped his hands together, "Seems to me that when you guys want something we've got money coming out our wazoo but when the rest of us poor folks want just a little relief, suddenly there's none to be had. Why _is_ that?" 

Storm's eyes narrowed to slits; he hated O'Neill, he really did. "Our primary concern is the safety of this planet not outposts in other galaxies. We should be focusing our efforts on protecting Earth against domestic threats not waging war on a race three-million light years away!"

"Ha!" the General exclaimed, waving a finger, "That, that right there; that's the part you don't get! If we remove Atlantis then there'll be nothing standing between the Wraith and the Milky Way. How long do you think it'd take them to wander over this way if Atlantis isn't there to stop them? Especially since they know we're here?"

"The hive that Atlantis helped destroy last year was the Wraith's only means of traveling to this galaxy," Shen Xiaoyi, the representative from China, argued, "There is no more threat of them finding Earth."

Singularly amazed at the stupidity of the woman, Jack gawked at her. "And you don't think that they might, oh I don't know, try again?"

"Travel to our galaxy requires a ZPM which the Wraith are not currently in possession of."

"But they could be," Jack countered, "I've got twenty-six reports in my office from Sheppard telling me that the Wraith are actively searching for a means to adapt their technology with that of the Ancients. In addition to hunting all over the galaxy looking for more ZPM's, just last week Sheppard and his team ran across a bunch of Wraith trying to bastardize their hyperdrive with the hyperdrive from an Aurora class ship they'd found. They _are_ trying to get back here and right now, Atlantis is the only thing stopping them."

"And Atlantis will continue to stop them," Coolidge, the American representative, said, "General, you seem to be under the impression that we are discussing the termination of the Atlantis expedition. That is not the issue here; the issue is whether or not we can afford to send in the resources and troops that Colonel Sheppard and Director Woolsey have asked for."

"And the answer is that we cannot, not at this time," Storm said, his voice firm. They were done talking about this.

But Jack wasn't finished yet; he was determined to drive his point home. "If Atlantis doesn’t get some help then it won't be able to defend itself or _us_ against the Wraith which is why, you'll excuse me Carl, if I digress, not giving Atlantis what it's asking for is the same as saying _'to hell with it, we're just gonna let the Wraith win'_. We've got to send them some help otherwise we'll be back here, again, in another month having this exact same conversation and personally, I'm tired of seeing you people. So, give me something; anything! Nothing is too small at this point."

Storm looked at him, a victorious smirk twisting the corners of his mouth. "I'm sorry General, but we simply don't have the -"

"What about our existing resources?" the French representative asked casting a look over the General and Director Storm. As hesitant as he was to openly oppose the IOA's Director he feared the Wraith more. Having been present at the SGC during the Wraith's brief occupation of it two years ago, LaPierre was unwilling to see it happen again.

Jack turned towards the man and blinked several times. "I'm sorry, what?" he asked.

"I believe Monsieur LaPeirre misspoke General," Storm said, his voice warning caution to any that would speak out against him, "As I said, we do not currently have the means by which to supply Atlantis with -"

"Cut the crap Storm and let the man speak!" Jack snapped, shooting a glare at the Director before turning back to the Frenchmen, "You were saying?" he prompted.

Jean LaPeirre cleared his throat and sat up just a bit straighter in his chair. Looking the General dead in the eye he said, "If we cannot afford to acquire more soldiers and more weapons why not redistribute those already in our possession?"

"Go on," Jack said, barely able to keep the excitement from his voice at the thought of a possible loop hole.

"Yes please, do go on," Storm encouraged tersely. If the Frenchman ruined his plans to see Atlantis returned to Earth sooner rather than later he would personally undo him.

Undeterred by the clear warning in Storm's tone, LaPeirre continued. "Stargate Command recently incorporated new personal into their operations did they not? Personnel belonging to an experimental program that was, unfortunately, recently terminated?"

The General caught on fast. "You're talking about the NC's.”

LaPeirre nodded.

And suddenly Jack was grinning. “That could work.”

“I’m afraid not General,” Storm said, eagerly wishing to take the smile from O’Neil’s face, “According to my reports all nine of the NC26 soldiers are currently on assignment off world and therefore unavailable for transfer. A good suggestion, Monsieur, but not a viable one."

"It was my understanding that three of them are currently at Stargate Command," Jean countered, turning back to O'Neill, "Under the direction of General Samantha Carter."

"The three NC's stationed at the SGC are currently off world with SG teams One and Four assisting the Free Jaffa with a recent uprising,” Storm argued quickly, before O’Neil could either confirm or deny the Frenchman’s claim. He needed to stop this, now. “The Free Jaffa are some of our most valued allies, we can't simply pull back our support of -"

"Actually," Jack interrupted, attempting not to smirk at the dismayed look that appeared on the director’s face, "The teams got back in this morning; got the confirmation sitting on my desk."

Anger and annoyance flashed successively over Storm's face before he forced himself back into a state of practiced neutrality. He could work with this, if General O'Neill was determined to see Atlantis gain the advantage that having the NC's would give then he could make damned sure that advantage was negligible. "Very well," he relented, "But understand; I cannot allow the SGC to be left vulnerable just to appease Atlantis."

Jack frowned. "What does _that_ mean?" he asked.

A look of triumphant superiority split over Storm’s face as he turned to regard the General. "It means that I will agree to send Atlantis one of the SGC's three NC's but only one; the rest must remain here."

" _One!?!_ " Jack exclaimed, steely eyes blazing as he glared at his adversary, " _One_ NC is not going to make a difference. That's like putting a Band-Aid on a broken arm!"

"And yet is it your only option," Storm reiterated, eyes glinting maliciously with glee, "Take it or leave it General; the choice is yours."

It was the end of the lines and Jack knew it. Atlantis was depending on him and while what was being offered wouldn't solve the problem it might stem the tide long enough for him to find another, more permanent, solution. With this in mind, Jack swallowed his pride and took the deal. “I'll make the arrangements."

"You do that," said Storm smugly, standing. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to which I must attend. This meeting is concluded."

As the room slowly emptied and Jack forlornly gathered his papers he made sure to catch LaPeirre's eye and nod a silent _‘thanks’_ for what was, by all accounts, a very valiant attempt to circumvent Storm's bullshit _._ It just wasn't enough this time. Resignedly Jack tucked his papers under his arm before stomping angrily back to his office. Breezing through the door, he nodded at his secretary – who took one look at his face and knew better than to ask how the meeting had gone – before collapsing wearily behind his desk. Sighing heavily the general focused on organizing his thoughts into some semblance of a workable plan. The Director had left him little to work with and Jack wasn't MacGyver; he couldn't just make something out of the steaming pile of nothing that'd been handed to him. He needed substance, something to work with.

He needed coffee.

"Tina!"

His secretary - a matronly woman who spent as much time filing his paperwork as she did reminding him to eat - appeared at his door. "Yes General?"

Wordlessly he handed her the **_I "Heart" the Air Force_** mug Daniel had given him a few years ago. "The usual," he beseeched tiredly. "I also need the SGC's files for Twelve, Ninety-One and Seventy-Four."

"Of course General," she nodded, "I'll have those right out to you,” and then she was gone.

Rubbing his hands over his face, Jack sat back in his chair and began brainstorming a way to make everything work. The plain simple truth was that Storm was doing everything in his power to sabotage Atlantis without it looking like that was what he was trying to do. The Director wanted the city back on Earth; period. Jack was still a little fuzzy on the why - it couldn't be _just_ because of the technology, there _had_ to be more to it than that - but he did know that he wasn't about to just let Storm win. Atlantis had to stay in the Pegasus, it _had_ to.

The survival of a hell of a lot of people depended on it.

"General O'Neil?"

Jack looked up; he’d been so lost in thought he hadn’t heard Tina return. Gratefully accepting the mug she handed him, the general took a sip while nodding that she could leave the files on his desk. She did before retreating to her desk in the outer part of the office. Turning his attention downwards, Jack pulled the first of the files towards him and flipped it open. He was met with the scared face of a hard looking man under whose picture, where normally a name would be, was only the following: NC26 - 91. Jack scowled; revolted.

The NC26 Project was shrouded in mystery, more so then the Stargate Project. Jack knew very little about it, hadn’t even heard of it until a year ago, but having been given charge of its leftovers he’d gone out of his way to find out as much as he could. It was all very disturbing. In a script right out of a comic book, the government had developed a serum capable of biologically enhancing whoever it was given to. The first couple of attempts went horribly wrong but once they got the kinks worked out the NC26 Project was born. Designed and operated completely off the grid, one hundred and twenty soldiers had been given the serum before undergoing a rigorous training regime designed to turn them into literal human weapons. What sickened Jack was what they did in order to accomplish this. They’d been beaten, starved and tortured; pushed to the very brink of human endurance over and over again until the end result was met. Then, in a final act of dehumanization, they’d been stripped of their names and assigned numerical designations. In the eyes of the Project they were little more than intelligent drones; capable of advanced thought and problem solving but otherwise completely controllable.

Returning to the file, Jack's eyes traveled down the page taking in the details of NC 91's life in service. Nothing, absolutely nothing stood out. Oh sure there was the usual kill list, list of targets and lists of various other natures – missions completed and what have you – but nothing that was in any way helpful. All Jack saw on the page was an extremely proficient killing machine and Atlantis needed more than just another well trained soldier. Soldiers they had; what Atlantis _needed_ was another Sheppard. A soldier who could think _outside_ the box.

Scowling, Jack closed the file and pushed it away, pulling another towards him. This one belonged to a woman – of the nine NC's insanity had spared there were only two women – and the only one of the three the General had actually met. Her name was Kate and Jack only knew this because about a month after getting stationed at the SGC, Vala had decided she liked her and in typical Vala fashion had proceeded to needle, prod and peck the woman to the point where it was either give up her name or start contemplating murder. She’d chosen the former, obviously, but knowing her name wasn’t enough to make her file even remotely interesting. As dull as her predecessors – at least so far as personality was concerned – it seemed the only thing he was bound to learn from it was how proficient a killer she was. There was no background information, no personal list of accomplishments; nothing to suggest that she was any more qualified for the job than the others. With a deep, heartfelt sigh, he gave up the matter as a hopeless and sank wearily back into his chair.

"General?” called Tina from the doorway and, thankful for the distraction, Jack looked up.

"Yes?"

Approaching his desk, she held up another stack of folders different in color and thickness to the ones she’d delivered before. "While I was down in filing, I took the liberty of requesting these for you as well," she explained, holding them out to him, "They’re the official service records for NCs. I thought they might help."

Graying eyebrows threatened to disappear into an equally grey hairline. "I didn't know they had those.”

His secretary gave a doleful smile. "One-hundred and twenty soldiers from four branches couldn't just vanish, Sir. If someone were to go looking, there had to be something for them to find.”

Jack frowned, he should've thought of that. Data obfuscation, or data masking, was something he was intimately familiar with. The Stargate Program did it all the time: explosions in space explained away as satellites being hit by meteors and so on. He _really_ should've known the NC26 Project would've had a front, something completely mundane and reasonable sounding that masked it's more clandestine aspects. The general felt like kicking himself for not having thought of it sooner.

“Thanks Tina,” he said, waving her away. Then, taking a deep breath, he steeled himself and dove in. Flipping open the first file he immediately recognized the man on the page as NC Ninety-One - though without the distinctive scars - and read the name under the picture: Mathew MacQueen. Releasing the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, Jack sat back in his chair and began to read.

Mathew James MacQueen was a Master Chief in the US Navy and a decorated member of the Navy SEALs. He’d begun his career directly upon graduating from high school and had been born in Leavenworth Kansas. Both his father and grandfather had been in the Navy, one as a Chief Petty officer during Vietnam and the other as a Lieutenant during WWII while his mother’s father had been a marine who had died on the beach at Normandy. In addition to MacQueen’s impressive military background, he had an equally impressive service record. As a SEAL he’d been a part of various recon missions and a couple high profile rescues and extractions before being recruited by the Project after his third tour in Iraq. And if that wasn’t enough to paint a picture for Jack, the man also had over two pages of recommendations and awards.

The general grinned; now they were getting somewhere.

The next profile belonged to NC Twelve. Like MacQueen, Lafayette Raegan was a career soldier with an impressive record. The only real difference between Raegan and MacQueen was the former’s lack of a military background. Raegan’s mother was an English teacher and his father a football coach. He was from Louisiana and his last post had been with the Army Rangers as a sniper. His list of confirmed kills was nearly three pages long and if it was to be believed, which Jack had every indication that it was, Atlantis could make good use of someone with his abilities.

The last folder belonged to Kate and the first thing Jack noticed about her was her enlistment age. Unlike the other two, who had joined right out of high school, Kate'd waited until after college to sign up. It was also peculiar to note that she'd been grabbed by the project almost immediately upon completion of basic. At first it didn’t make any sense - why would the NC26 Project be interested in a girl straight off the reservation and without any prior service history? - but then Jack saw her transcripts. Where MacQueen and Raegan were mostly brawn Kate was apparently all brain. She'd graduated at the top of her class from Stanford and had scored one-hundred percent on her ASVAB giving her her pick of career fields. And despite her background – she'd majored in international business and corporate law which to Jack seemed to point towards a job somewhere in administration – she’d chosen spec. ops instead. Her choice, while a little off kilter, did explain why she agreed to join the Project and Jack had to admit that her knowledge of world business probably came in handy during her time in service. Her records showed that she'd been especially gifted in the areas of information gathering and reconnaissance. In other words; a spy.

Having reached the end, Jack closed the folder and sat back in his chair no closer to a decision then he had been an hour ago. Problem was they were all just too damned good which was hardly surprising when one thought about it. The one hundred and twenty soldiers chosen for the Project had been the best of the best and the nine of them currently serving with the Stargate Program were the best of them. Without actually seeing them in action it was an impossible choice.

A proverbial lightbulb went off in his head as an idea suddenly came to him. He sat up, mind working furiously as he thought it through, thought about the implications and decided that this could solve everything.

He’d been going about this all wrong. It didn’t matter who they were on paper because on paper meant absolutely nothing. Colonel Sheppard’s records painted him as an arrogant little sod with a superiority complex and a problem following orders. No one who read them would believe him if Jack were to tell them that the Colonel was one of the best damned soldiers the world had to offer or that he'd do anything to get the job done. Hell, Jack's own records weren't really all that faltering either. Neither were Carter's. The true measure of a solider couldn't be captured in a file so, really, Jack was wasting his time. What he really needed to do was let Atlantis meet them and then decide for themselves. Sheppard and his team could then put them through their paces while getting to know them a little before making a decision. And really, the choice needed to be made by Atlantis anyway because Atlantis was a different command than the SGC and couldn’t by rights be held to the same standards.

He needed to make a phone call.

Gleefully the general reached for the phone at the corner of his desk and dialed the number for the SGC.

“Hello?” answered the person on the other end of the line.

"Carter," he exclaimed, barely able to hide his excitement, "I have an idea. You're not gonna like it at first but just hear me out…"

~xXx~

Tucked away just off Norad Road, at the base of Cheyenne Mountain, was a bar. A little hole-in-the-wall gin joint that nobody would've been able to find unless you were looking for it, O’Malley’s was the go-to place to have a drink for anyone who worked at the SGC. In fact, if not for the patronage of the off-duty SG teams, O'Malley's would've closed down years ago. There was even a rumor that during the program's first year the then Colonel O'Neil had made a deal with old Mr. O'Malley to keep the bar open twenty-four seven. The request was, apparently, so that all the teams coming back at odd intervals could have a place to come and unwind. Whether the rumor was true or not was up to debate, but the fact remained: the doors never closed and morning, noon or night you could walk in, slide up to the bar and order whatever you wanted.

On this particular Thursday, at exactly three-thirty in the afternoon, O’Malley’s was empty except for a single woman. She had black hair, grey eyes and was sitting alone at a table in the very back. In front of her was a bottle of cheap whiskey and a half empty glass with at least two fingers left in it. She’d been drinking for about an hour but had yet to start feeling anything even remotely resembling a buzz. Apparently advanced alcohol resilience was just another perk of being a genetically altered super soldier.

Kate thought it sucked.

“You know they say you should never drink alone.”

She looked up; standing above her was an older woman with black hair and blue-grey eyes. Kate sighed, “What do you want Vala?” she asked.

The only current alien member of SG-1 sat down and, reaching out, plucked the bottle away from her despondent friend.

“Hey!” Kate exclaimed, “I was drinking that!”

“And now you’re not,” said Vala, looking worriedly over her friend, “I know it takes quite a lot to get you even slightly tipsy but really dear, alcohol isn’t the answer.”

Kate scowled. “It’s my answer,” she pouted, “Besides, it’s cheaper than therapy.”

Vala sighed. “You’re acting like this is the end of the world. You won’t even be gone that long.”

“What if I’m the one they pick?”

“Then it’ll be because you’re the best one to do the job and that’ll be that.”

Grey eyes dropped to the table. “I just don’t wanna leave,” said Kate, “When we got to the SGC they told us our days of being shipped off wherever were over. Now, they’re going back on their word.”

Vala eyed her. “What’s this really about Katie? Is it really about Atlantis or is there something else?”

Kate sighed. “It’s…what if while I’m gone I miss out on a lead or something -”

“You’ve been looking for your brother for seven years; maybe it’s time to accept that he just doesn’t want to be found,” Kate’s eyes turned cold and Vala let out another long suffering sigh. “I’ll have Daniel listen for you while you’re gone,” she offered, “And, who knows, maybe you’ll find something in Atlantis.”

“I doubt I’ll find John in Atlantis.”

The alien woman shrugged. “Never say never Katie – Atlantis has led us to stranger things then long lost family members.”

The reminder made Kate snort. Her first mission at the SGC had been an epic quest with SG-1 after Dr. Jackson had found an obscure reference in one of Atlantis’ databases referencing some great “artifact”. Said artifact turned out to be nothing more than an Ancient toilet with some rather remarkable plumbing issues. Apparently the data entry from which Dr. Jackson first found the reference was no more than a maintenance log kept by a particularly felicitous Lantean. Needless to say, neither SG-1 nor Dr. Jackson had been very happy.

Kate on the other hand, had found the whole situation hilarious. “Okay, yeah; I’ll give you that one.”

Her companion grinned. “So, how about you and I go back to your place and I’ll help you pack. Then, we can order in and watch that new show that’s out now that everyone’s been talking about.”

“The one with Zombies?” asked Kate for clarification. When Vala nodded enthusiastically the super soldier decided that it really was time to leave the bar. “Yeah okay,” she agreed, “Let’s go pack and then we’ll order Chinese.”

Hopping out of her chair, Vala followed the younger woman from the bar and through the parking lot to the very back where a red Corvette sat waiting. Kate unlocked the doors and then slid into the driver’s seat while Vala got in on the passenger’s side. It was a constant source of intrigue at the SGC concerning where Kate’s apparent wealth had come from. The most common theory was that she’d killed some important business man back when she’d been part of the program and, as compensation; she’d gotten to keep some of his wealth. Only Vala knew the truth and it was a secret she’d not be sharing with anyone anytime soon.

Companionable silence fell around them as they raced along, going about eighty down the highway. There weren’t any cops on the road, not at this time of day, and even if there were, Kate was one hell of a driver; flashing lights were just motivation for her to put the pedal down and go faster. It was only after they’d taken their exit and were headed up the street to where Kate’s apartment was located that Vala finally turned to her and asked, “So, while you’re in Atlantis, do you think you could get a picture of that Ronon for me? I know I’ve got my Daniel but I do so like looking at all his rippling muscles.”

Kate laughed. “I’ll see what I can do,” she promised.

Vala smiled.

Neither woman spoke for the rest of the ride.

~xXx~

Atlantis was in an uproar.

After receiving a message from Stargate Command regarding the latest IOA ruling, the city's director, Richard Woolsey, called a meeting for his senior staff members to deliver the news. It came as absolutely no surprise to anyone that after he was done explaining the IOA's decision, Dr. Rodney McKay had something to say about it. 

It was all downhill from there.

“ _One person_!!!” the scientist raged, angrily pacing back and forth the length of the room, “They can’t just send us _one_ person. _One_ person is not going to do a damned bit of good!!!”

 “I understand your frustration Doctor,” said Woolsey attempting to pacify him, “But the IOA -”

“Can fucking bite me,” Major Lorne bit out, crossing his arms angrily, “Where do they get off -”

“I do not understand,” Teyla was saying, shaking her head as she spoke, “Does your IOA not understand what would happen if they should allow this city to fall? The Wraith may have been quelled for now, but with every day that passes their resolve only strengthens. They will make another attempt to reach your world; it is only a matter of time.”

Rodney deflated, sinking wearily back down into his chair. “We keep telling them that but it just doesn't seem to take. I don’t know how much more clear we can make it. We've got -”

“There’s nothing we can do.”

The room went quiet.

 “Care to elaborate on that Colonel?” Woolsey asked, one eyebrow lifting in question.

John shrugged. “Storm wants Atlantis for her technology. He thinks that if he can hold out on us long enough we'll just pack it in and come home. That’s his play and right now, there’s nothing we can do about it. Eventually we’re gonna have’ta call it quits.”

“But we can’t just leave!” cried Jennifer, “What about all the people here? He can't just – ”

“Storm doesn’t care about the people of Pegasus,” the colonel argued, “Right now he sees this all as some kind of equation. We're supposed to be out here exploring and making advancements that'll give Earth a leg up on her enemies -"

"That's exactly what we're doing!" Rodney snapped, "Between my science teams and Jennifer's medical department, we've given Earth plenty of -"

"And if that was all we were doing we'd be set but it's not," John said. "Our war with the Wraith is draining every last ounce of resources we have and Storm doesn’t think it's worth it. That's the problem."

Jennifer still didn't see it. "But Atlantis is the only thing keeping the Wraith from getting to Earth!"

"Storm doesn’t think so."

"He's wrong!" the doctor yelled, voice wavering. Rodney reached out a hand and gently rubbed her back.

Woolsey sighed; the colonel was right. During their time on Earth trying to get permission to bring the city back to the Pegasus, Atlantis' Director had worked very closely with Colonel Sheppard who had proven both knowledgeable and insightful in how the political game was played. John Sheppard understood politics and he understood people; Richard had come to trust his instincts on both things greatly.  

“We need leverage,” said Lorne, glancing over towards Sheppard after a moment of silence had passed, “Are you _sure_ Todd doesn’t have any more ZPM's?”

The colonel shook his head. “He says he doesn’t.”

“And you believe him?” asked Woolsey.

“Normally I wouldn’t but in this case…” John sighed, “Todd needs Atlantis to help him win his war against the other Wraith. If we just up and left -”

“He’d be screwed,” ground out Ronon who then asked, “Why are we helping him again?”

It was an old argument, one they had every month or so. This time it was Teyla who explained the reasoning. “Because like it or not Todd has been our most effective ally against the Wraith. If not for him, we would not have lasted as long as we have since our return.”

“We owe him,” John said grimly. It pained him to admit it but it was true. Ever since the city had returned, the Wraith had been on the offensive; nonstop. Todd, in a surprising show of generosity, had agreed to have one of his hives fly circle the quadrant of space Atlantis at all times in order to stave off any direct attacks. John was pretty sure he’d done it just so that he could have them in his debt, and they were. Todd had Atlantis by the balls and there wasn’t a damned thing they could do about it.

“So if the problem is ZPM’s, why can’t we just go find more?” asked Jennifer, looking around the table at those gathered, “Or maybe we could find another ship?”

“If you know where to look that'd be great,” quipped Ronon sarcastically.

Jennifer dropped her eyes to the table. “It was just a suggestion,” she mumbled morosely.

“It was good Doc; it just doesn’t help us,” said Lorne, looking over her. “Unfortunately all we can do right now is wait and see who we get on the Daedalus.”

“One person,” Rodney started to rant again, “I can’t believe -”

“We’ll just have to wait and see,” said Woolsey, standing, “Now if you all will excuse me; I’ve got a meeting with the Genii High Council.”

“Tell Ladon we say ‘hi’,” Sheppard called after him before turning back to everyone else, “Alright, shows over,” he clapped his hands together, “Who wants lunch?”

As a group, the six of them collectively answered before following the colonel to the mess hall.

~xXx~

In the intervening three weeks it took for the Daedalus to arrive, Atlantis continued to limp along as best it could. Their longtime allies the Athosians kept them fed, the Travelers kept them supplied with information and Woolsey’s talk with the Genii had gotten them weapons in exchange for the promise of medical equipment and continued assistance with their nuclear project. Sheppard and Lorne’s teams were  attacked twice while off world - once by the Wraith and once by a group of Wraith worshipers . By the time the Daedalus was scheduled to arrive, John was finally ready to admit that even if it was only one person, he’d take all the help he could get.

Rodney, however, had more still to say on the issue. As he, Sheppard, Ronon, Lorne and Woolsey stood awaiting Caldwell’s arrival, the scientist was complaining loudly. "I still don't see how any of this is even gonna be remotely helpful.  One more person is not gonna make that much of a difference. What we _really_ need is -"

“Help," John snapped angrily, "And right now, we can't exactly afford to be picky so whatever we get, we're gonna take. End of story."

But Rodney wasn't quelled. "Yes but, again, one person, not gonna make that much of a dent. Not unless -"

"Can I shoot him Sir?" asked Lorne pleadingly, glancing towards the colonel, "Please?"

Blustering in indignation, Rodney puffed up like a toad.

"No one is shooting anyone Major," said Woolsey, frowning. Then, with a pointed look towards his chief scientist, "No matter how much they might deserve it."

Lorne gave a dramatic sigh before answering dutifully, "Yes, Sir."

The colonel and Ronon shared a snicker.

Flustered, Rodney scowled. "Aren't you people the least bit concerned that the IOA's setting us up to fail? We need to try and convince them -"

"I don't think there's much of a chance we can convince the IOA of anything right now," interrupted Sheppard sullenly, "And we already know they they're setting us up to fail, we've known that since we came back."

Rodney blinked. "What, we have? Since when -"

"Where've you been McKay?" asked Ronon.

"Yeah the whole city knows," Lorne agreed.

"And not just the city," the colonel added, "The damned Wraith know it too, why do you think they keep hitting us so hard? They know that if they break us this time we're gone; that's it, that's all she wrote. With the city gone they're free and clear to get to Earth."

Rodney deflated. "I...oh, ummm-"

"It's all we can do just to keep treading water,” John chastised, “Beggars can't be choosers so just shut up."

The Canadian swallowed, falling silent. Not two seconds after Rodney stopped talking, Chuck called down to them that the Daedalus had arrived in orbit and was ready to beam. After getting the go ahead from Woolsey, Atlantis' gate-room was bathed in a bright flash of white light that dissipated as suddenly as it had appeared granting the gathered men their first view of Atlantis' newest personnel.

"Whoa,” whispered Lorne.

Sheppard had to agree. The three people standing in a triangle formation behind Caldwell were about the most intimidating bunch of soldiers he’d ever seen. All three of them were armed to the teeth and wearing futuristic armor that closely resembled something one might find in video game. Standing perfectly still, spines erect, they almost didn’t look alive and if not for the fact that he could see them breathing, Sheppard might’ve thought they weren’t.

"Mr. Woolsey," Caldwell greeted, coming forwards, "Colonel, Major," he nodded at Sheppard and Lorne in turn, "Brought you a present."

"Thank you Colonel," said Woolsey, eyeing the individuals. They were, quite possibly, the most threatening people Richard had ever seen. He frowned, “Forgive me but I had thought we were only to have one?”

“General O’Neil thought you might like to make the selection for yourself,” Caldwell explained, nodding at the soldiers, “They were part of something called the NC26 Project. Basically they’ve all been biologically enhanced with superior strength, speed, agility and healing abilities. Think Captain America only less…morally grounded. They're human weapons and their damned dangerous. Each one of them could kill you sixty different ways with a paperclip."

The mood in the gate room became noticeably lighter; suddenly _one_ person didn't seem like such a bad deal.

"They’re _super soldiers_?" McKay exclaimed, "Like real live…"

Colonel Caldwell nodded, grinning.

"Really?" Lorne asked dubiously.

Again, Caldwell gave a nod.

“Well, how 'bout that?" John smirked, eyeing the three of them. He had to hand it to them, they certainly _looked_ dangerous. In addition to full body armor, they were all wearing helmets which hid their faces from view. Personally, John kinda wanted to see what they looked like if only to check that they were actually humans and not robots or something. "Could we lose the helmets maybe? I kinda wanna see what we're dealing with."

“Of course,” Caldwell replied and gave the order.

With practiced movements, so in sync it was scary; the soldiers removed their helmets and secured them tightly to their sides before falling into precision parade rest. Woolsey, Lorne, Sheppard, Ronon and Rodney all took curious steps forwards to better peer at the exposed faces of the supposed super humans. The one on the far right was built like a tank and had two long scars resembling claw marks running diagonally across his face, the middle one was bald and had dark skin and the last soldier, the smallest of the three, was a woman. Nobody noticed anything particularly remarkable about her or any of the others other than their obvious differentness.

Nobody except Colonel Sheppard.

While Woolsey, Lorne, Ronon and Rodney might not have been overly impressed by the three startling individuals, John was having trouble breathing. As Caldwell talked dove into a more detailed explanation of their various abilities John’s gaze rested solely on the woman who, despite knowing she’d seen him, was determinedly _not_ looking at him. It pissed him off; after seven years the least she could do was look at him.

As if sensing his anger, the woman's head turned and their eyes locked forcing John to clench his jaw in order to keep his composure. Gone was the warmth and the shyness that he remembered, in its place was a cold, glasslike splendor that betrayed nothing. If not for their color he wouldn’t have known it was her.

“Thank you Colonel Caldwell,” Woolsey was saying as Colonel Sheppard snapped back to the present. Blinking, he forcibly looked away and tried to focus on what was being said. He’d missed most of it but was sure he could convince Rodney to give him a recap later without raising too much suspicion. Lorne and Ronon were another story; they'd noticed. 

Off to the side, the major and former runner were both eyeing him strangely. McKay had immediately started spouted off ideas about what kind of tests to put them through almost as soon as Caldwell had stopped talking. With great effort, John managed to stare straight ahead and focus on what Rodney was saying as Caldwell informed them that they had until the Daedalus left to reach a decision.

“I’m sure my team can come up with a suitable series of tests in that time,” Woolsey assured before turning to address the super soldiers properly for the first time. "In the meantime, I’ll have a marine escort you to your temporary quarters. Testing will begin in the morning after you’ve all had some time to rest.”

The big one with the scars, obviously the leader, gave a curt nod. “Understood Sir,” he said, “Thank you.”

Woolsey turned back to Caldwell. “Will you and your crew be needing quarters as well?”

Caldwell shook his head. “Thank you, but no,” he said before adding, “We will eat your food though if it’s not too much trouble. We ran out of everything except turkey surprise about half way here and, after a week and a half, it’s no longer a good surprise.”

Woolsey smirked and motioned for the colonel to follow him. “I think we can accommodate you,” he said before turning to look behind him at the NC’s, “If you’ll follow Sergeant Richards,” indicating the marine that had just arrived, “He’ll take you to your quarters.”

Falling into single file, the three super soldiers each gave a salute before following Richards down the hall. As she passed him, Kate turned her head just a fraction so that she could meet John’s eyes just once more as she walked by. He was glaring at her. With regret, she pulled her gaze from his and marched resolutely on.

John watched her go, eyes boring angrily into her back, until she and the others disappeared from sight.

"Hey Colonel!"

Snapping back to reality, John stammered a reply, "Huh, what?"

The major gave his commanding officer the once over. "Everything alright, Sir?" he asked, eyebrows lifting, "You seem a little out of it."

John blinked. "I'm fine," he said then, because neither Lorne nor Ronon seemed entirely convinced, "I'm _fine_ , just…tired.” He turned on his heel calling back as he strode away that he’d be in his office if anyone needed him before disappearing out of sight.

"That was weird," said Ronon, turning to Lorne, “He never goes to his office.”

“I habitually think he forgets he has one,” Lorne agreed. Something was off; the major wasn’t sure what but he knew, just knew, that something wasn’t right. “Come on,” he said to Ronon deciding that whatever was going on, it was too early to worry about yet, “Let’s go get some food.”

With a grunt Ronon nodded and followed the major towards the mess hall.

~xXx~

The problem with highly trained, genetically enhanced super soldiers was that they were observant; too observant. They noticed everything and while that was a good trait to have out in the field or in battle, it sucked if you wanted to keep something a secret. Kate had been trained to show as little emotion as possible therefore limited the amount of information an observer could gather from her: Colonel Sheppard hadn’t. He’d taken one look at her and forgotten how to breathe, something both Ninety-One and Twelve had immediately picked up on. Kate hadn’t even been in her room three minutes before the two of them showed up to interrogate her.

"What the hell was that?" Ninety-One demanded.

In a last ditch attempt to keep the subject of John to herself, Kate feigned ignorance, "What was what?"

Twelve gave her a look that let her know she wasn't fooling anybody. "Come on girl," he said, "I’s know yous know we’s ain’t dat stupid. What happened back dar, wit th’ colonel? He knows you, don’t he? And yous know him.”

Growling at the pair of them, Kate sank down onto her bed. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Ninety-One snorted. “Well too bad,” he told her, “You’re gonna.”

She glared at him.

“He didn’ look too happy t’ see yous once th’ shock wore off,” Twelve observed, “Yous be wantin’ t’ tell us why?”

One look at their faces told Kate she wasn’t getting out of this. “I…you’re right,” she confessed, “I know him.”

“And?” they prompted.

She hesitated. “He was my reason.”

Twin sets of dubious eyes looked back at her. “You’re reason for what?” asked Ninety-One.

“My reason for joining the marines, my reason for wanting spec. ops, my reason for saying yes, my reason for fucking everything I’ve done in the past seven years!” she cried, her voice was shrill and laced with exasperation although what she was exasperated about neither of them had any idea. This was the most emotion they’d seen out of her since that time on P3X – 272. It was a bit alarming.

“Okay, okay,” said Ninety-One, holding up his hands in surrender, “Just answer me this. Why, if he’s your reason, did he look so pissed about seeing you?”

Kate sighed and looked away. “We didn’t exactly part on good terms,” she said.

Twelve frowned. “Wha’ tha’ mean?”

“It means it's none of your damned business!”

Yielding to the force of her fury, Twelve backtracked quickly. Initially he hadn't been a big fan of hers; NC26 Seven-Four was a cold, calculating individual devoid of even the smallest hint of humanity. Her ice-like veneer was as off putting as her personality or at least it had been until he'd found a crack, a chink in her armor that let him catch a glimpse of what lay hidden beneath. NC Twenty-Six Seven-four was an ice cold bitch; Kate was a fucking fire spitting volcano. Making her mad was worse than throwing water on a cat. It was obvious that this colonel was a sore subject so, as a matter of self-preservation, he let the matter go.

“So’s dinner?” he asked, already hedging out the door and away from the glaring woman.

Agreeing, Kate and Ninety-One let Twelve lead the way down the hallway until they found a marine that pointed them towards the chow hall. As they walked, Ninety-One fell into step beside Kate and leaned towards her. “Are you sure you’re fine?” he asked, slowing his steps so that Twelve got even further ahead of them, “This colonel isn’t gonna interfere is he?”

Kate shook her head. “No.”

Her fellow soldier wasn’t convinced. The two of them had been partnered during the program’s second year and had remained one of the most effective teams throughout the Project’s lifespan. He knew her, and that knowledge afforded him the ability to see through the lies she told everyone else. Even herself. By her own admission this colonel was important enough to have had a driving influence in her decisions. Kate might’ve said he wasn’t going to affect her but Ninety-One knew he would. This, whatever _this_ was, was far from over.  

They reached the cafeteria and grabbed trays, stepping up to the queue of regular base personnel who all scrunched together upon seeing them as if afraid they might contract something if they ventured too near. Once they had their meals they departed to find a table, preferably one away from everyone else. As they walked, Ninety-One felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and, turning, found the dark haired colonel watching them or rather, watching Kate. As the three of them slid into seats at a table in the farthest corner of the dining hall, Ninety-One found himself leaning sideways in order to whisper.

“He’s watching you.”

Kate’s spine stiffened. “Let him,” she hissed back, a note of challenge lacing her tone, “I want him to see.”

“See what?” he asked.

 “Me.”

After that, no one dared speak and the rest of their meal was taken in silence.

~xXx~

Dinner had ended six hours ago and John Sheppard had yet to go to sleep. It was just after midnight and rather than getting some much needed rest before his team’s mission tomorrow, the colonel was busy pacing back and forth the length and breadth of his room. He was agitated and angry, two emotions that he generally tried not to feel at the same time. He also felt betrayed, blindsided and hurt, more hurt then he’d thought he’d be. It’d been seven years since last he saw her, seven _years_. Now she was here, in _his_ city. More than anything John felt trespassed upon, like he’d been invaded. Kate was here and suddenly all of his armor was gone leaving him nothing to hide behind. He felt naked and exposed and he didn’t like it.

He had to confront her. He’d tried watching her thinking that if he could convey to her how much he didn’t want her here she might take pity on him and leave. It hadn’t worked. Kate had always been good at ignoring things that weren’t important to her and now that apparently included him. He’d known that of course but it still stung to have it confirmed. And the fact that he let himself be hurt by her rejection just made him all the more angry. This couldn’t go on, if she was gonna be here for the next six days then he needed to tell her where he stood. Try as he might he just couldn’t ignore her the same way she was ignoring him.

Resolved, John left his room and headed towards hers without giving so much as a second thought to the time or how it would look if someone saw him show up outside her door in the middle of the night. Instead he walked on through the twisting corridors until he arrived outside her temporary quarters. Squaring his shoulders, he raised a hand and knocked.

Only when she didn’t immediately respond did the reality of what he was doing catch up to him. “Damn it,” he muttered to himself, “I’ve really gotta start thinking these things through.”

Another minute ticked by and still no answer came. He’d just about decided to just sneak away and come back in the morning when the door finally hissed open and John came face to face the woman he never thought he’d see again.

“Ah….” he said lamely, “Hi.”

Grey eyes blinked at him in greeting. “Was there something you wanted, Colonel?”

Whatever he’d been expecting her to say, that wasn’t it. She acted like she didn’t even know him and that hurt, it hurt bad. Wounded, John struggled – stumbling over his words like he hadn’t done since he was a teenager. “I, ah…I wanted to talk to you.”

“So talk,” she said.

That just made him mad. He tramped it down though and fought to keep a level head. “It’s not exactly a hallway conversation,” he explained, “How ‘bout you invite me in?”

Kate frowned. “Aren’t you afraid of how that’ll look?”

“It’s one in the morning,” he said, fixing her with a look, “There’s no one here. Can you please just let me -” she stepped back, allowing him entrance. Stepping past her he mumbled a quiet _‘thanks’_ before turning to face her. The door slid closed and, belatedly, John realized that he had no idea how to start. “So…how’ve you been?” he asked awkwardly.

She raised an eyebrow. “Really? After seven years, that’s what you say?”

His eyes narrowed and, just like that, he was on the defensive. “Oh yeah!? Well, whose fault was that!?!”

“Yours!!”

The accusation brought him up short. “ _My_ fault?” he echoed, growing steadily more incensed by the minute, “How is it my fault, you’re the one who disappeared!!”

Kate’s expression turned stormy. “You wanna talk about disappearing acts?” she countered, enraged that he was blaming their estrangement on her, “I’ve been looking for you for seven years; _years_ John! But no matter where I looked I could never find – ”  

“I’ve been here!”

“And how the _fuck_ was I supposed to know that!?!”

“ _You weren’t!!!!_ ” he screamed and then instantly regretted it. Hurt flashed  loudly across Kate’s face before settling deep in the wells of her eyes. Immediately John wanted nothing more than to be able to take it back. “Kate, I -”

“Do you know why I left?” she asked him, raw anger pulsing at him, angry and red, from behind a mask of barely bottled rage. “I left to take your advice. I joined the marines because it was what _I_ wanted and I was only gone for the six weeks it took for basic. And I called you, every Sunday when recruits were allowed to call home to their families; my one phone call was always you. But you never answered. The only person at my graduation was David; _David!_ And I asked him, I asked him to use his contacts to try and find you but nothing ever came up. It was like you dropped off the face of the Earth! It never occurred to me that you literally did!!!”

As she spoke slowly, ever so slowly, John began to suspect that he mightn’t have handled things as well as he should have. That still didn’t excuse her up and taking off without telling him but it _did_ explain how things had looked from her perspective. When all of this had happened Kate had just cut her ties to the rest of the family and he had _promised_ her that even if none of them ever talked to her again she’d always have him. He’d sworn never to leave her, never abandon her and then he’d turned around and done exactly that. He hadn’t just fucked up he’d fucked up royally. Kate had every right to be angry at him and, while he also had every right to be angry at her, her grievance with him held more weight. John was amazed she hadn’t given up on him.

“You’ve really been looking for me for seven years?”

She nodded.

“I…” he looked at her, “Kate - Katie Beth, I’m _sorry!!_ It’s just…one minute you were there and the next you were gone and I…I think I thought that that meant you didn’t…that you didn’t need me around anymore.”

A sigh wrung itself from her lips, grey eyes softening. “Of course I needed you. You’re my brother; I’ll always need you I just…I needed to save myself for once.”

Now John understood. After college he’d run away and joined the Air Force in order to do the same damned thing. He’s wanted his own life, separate from the expectations their father had for him so he’d done something drastic. The whole family had been furious at him, everyone except his little sister. God, he had missed her. There was a thirteen year difference between them that, because Dad was always busy, seemed much larger. John had raised her, supporting her when she needed someone because neither of their parents seemed to care. Kate had been his responsibility so much so, that when she’d left, he’d felt like a part of him had died. His time in Atlantis had helped to dull the pain, but it’d never really left and now with her standing in front of him, it was as fresh as ever. He suddenly didn’t care how dangerous the galaxy was or what he’d do if Kate ever met Todd; in that moment, all he wanted to do was hold her.

“Look,” Kate was saying, calling his attention back to the present, “I know it’s not really my call and it’s not yours either but…I want this. And what I need...I have to know if you want this too.”

John sighed. She was right; the decision wasn’t theirs but hell if he didn’t wish it was. “I -” he wanted to tell her yes, wanted to tell her that he hoped she got to be the one to stay but, before he could speak what was in his heart, his brain caught up with him. The reality of what she’d be subjected to, what staying really _meant_ ; John realized that for however much they might want it, they could never have it.

“You can’t stay.

She blinked at him. “Why the hell not!?!”

“Because it’s dangerous,” he explained, “ _Too_ dangerous. Especially now, with the Wraith attacking us every other week and their worshippers setting traps for us off world. You don’t…you don’t need that and I… – I can’t worry about protecting you when I need to be worrying about protecting the city.”

A withering scowl took her face from shocked to something dark and scathing. “And what the hell makes you think I need you to protect me?” she demanded, glaring. "Have you forgotten who you're talking to? I'm a genetically enhanced super soldier, danger is what I do."

“Yeah and I get that, I do. But whatever it is you’re used to dealing with, the Wraith are worse. This isn’t Earth; it’s just us out here and we’ve got literally no backup. You’ve got no idea how -”

“That’s why we’re all here,” Kate interrupted him, “Why the three of us got sent here. So you can have back up.”

“One of you isn’t gonna do a damned bit of good.”

“Oh please,” Kate argued, “You have _no idea_ how much damage one of us can do!”

“Whatever it is, it’s not gonna be enough!”

“Oh really?” she countered, crossing her arms as she tossed him a look of contemptuous scorn, “I can kill you twelve different ways with a soup spoon!”

John blinked. “Wh – really? That’s…never mind!” he shook his head, “You can’t stay. It’s not safe and if you think I’m just gonna let you -”

“I’m not a little girl anymore!” she screamed at him, “I don’t need _your_ protection, I don’t need anyone’s protection!! I want to be here, I want to be with you. If I decide to stay you can’t stop me!”

Her brother scowled. “Didn’t you _just_ finish saying that the decision’s not up to you?!!”

“I’ll figure something out!” she insisted.

“The hell you will!!”

“ _Watch me!!!_ ”

John was so angry he shook. Fuck, his sister was stubborn! It was absolutely infuriating how obstinate she was being. He wondered where she learnt it but knew the answer. It was his own damned fault for teaching her to stand her ground without breaking and now he was reaping the rewards of it. Christ, he had to make her understand. The Wraith were unlike anything she would’ve dealt with before and the thought of his baby sister anywhere near even a single one of them was enough to tie his stomach to knots. He had to make her leave. If she stayed and something happened to her John would kill himself.

“I can’t let you -”

“Here’s the part you’re not getting,” Kate cut in, before he could finish his new argument, “You seem to be under the mistaken impression that after seven years, you still get to tell me what to do. Well here’s a news flash, you don’t, so you can just give that thought up right now and -”

“This isn’t about me telling you what to do; this is about not wanting you to die! Do you have any idea the kinds of things that happen here? I can’t protect you if -”

Kate was at her wit’s end, unable to further abide John’s continued assertions that she was still someone who needed her big brother’s protection. “You don’t get it do you!?!” she growled, “You just…” she trailed off, frustration pounding at her temples causing her head to ache. Everything she’d done: the missions she’d completed, the lives she’d saved, the men she’d killed. It all meant nothing if her brother still looked at her and saw nothing more than a little girl with banged up knees needing to be rescued. She’d joined the military to save herself, to prove to herself that she could; it’d be a cold day in hell before she let anyone take that away from her.

Even John.

“We’re done for the night,” she said, voice flattening as she slipped her mask back into place, “If that’s all Colonel, I’d like -”

Her brother growled. “No dammit, that’s not all. You need to listen to me, you need to -”

“I’ll listen to you when you start listening to me,” she said grabbing his arm. John let out a yelp at her apparent strength as she clamped down which made Kate smile. Then, with a tug, she started dragging him towards the door. Waving it open, she thrust him out into the hallway. “Goodnight Colonel. Thanks for the talk.”

“No, wait – Kate! We’re not done! Katie Beth! Just listen _please_ -”

But it was no use. In a matter of seconds he found himself facing a locked door alone in the deserted corridor. “God dammit!” he cried pounding his fist into the wall, not caring who heard him. Then, with a sigh, he turned and started stomping back towards his room. He'd taken maybe two steps when he looked up and nearly ran into Ronon.

"What're _you_ doing here?" he demanded, startled.

The Setedan shrugged. "Patrol."

“Right,” John muttered remembering that since Sergeant Patterson had a cold, Ronon had volunteered for night duty the next couple of days. When he’d said okay he’d thought it a blessing in disguise because it meant he didn’t have to do it. Now, worry began to creep up his spine as he wondered how much his friend might’ve heard. It was a little known secret but the former runner had excellent hearing and was too damned observant for his own good.

"Look, Ronon -” he trailed off, not entirely sure what he wanted to say or if he even, really, wanted to try and explain this. He sighed; trying to pretend nothing had happened wasn’t likely to fly, so John settled for the alternative. “I don’t suppose you can just…pretend you didn't see anything? I'm leaving and…can you?"

The big man nodded. “Sure, whatever.”

Grateful, John stepped past him and retreated back to his room.

Ronon watched him go, eyes narrowed, until Sheppard vanished around a corner. Then and only then did he continued with his patrol. Whatever was going on, he’d find out in the morning.

~xXx~

Having gotten very little sleep after her argument with John, Kate was late in getting to the mess hall for breakfast. When she did arrive, however; she sped through the line and then promptly accosted Ninety-One and Twelve who were back at their table from the night before. “I want it to be me,” she announced, lowering herself into the seat across from them, “The one who stays; I want it to be me.”

Her former partner studied her, one good eyebrow raised in silent inquiry. “I see," then, "Does this have something to do with the shouting match we heard comin’ from your room last night?”

She winced and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Heard that huh?”

Twelve nodded. “Loud an’ fucking clear,” he crooned, “Your colonel sure worked yous up int’ a frenzy.”

“He’s not my colonel.”

“Does _he_ know that?” Ninety-One asked, scowling. “What was he even _doing_ in your room at one in the morning?”

The unspoken accusation made Kate’s eyes narrow, lips curling back into a mocking sneer. “Jealous?”

Her former partner grimaced but could not deny it. They had been lovers once, during their time in the project. Back then they’d been isolated, separated from everyone and everything; unable to relate to anyone except another NC soldier. Their work left them hollow and, in trying to fill the void, they’d turned to each other for comfort. When the project ended and they’d both been shipped to the SGC, their affair had ended. Still, Kate had been his and only his for nearly five years – the thought of someone else touching her, especially someone from her past, made his blood boil.

Kate snorted, angry that a few instances of what amounted to nothing more than comfort sex made her partner think he had any claim on her. “Don’t be,” she told him, dark sneer still in place, “I draw the line at incest.”

" _Incest?_ " he parroted, blinking in surprise.

Twelve made a face. “Really?”

She nodded.

The revelation that should’ve eased Ninety-One’s conscious, didn’t. If the colonel was family then it still meant he had a part of her that he didn’t. "Cousin?" he guessed, trying to appear like he wasn’t still envious.

"Brother," Kate confessed, "He's my brother."

Both men stared at her. "Holy shit!" they exclaimed.

Kate dropped her eyes. "I know," she sighed, "Look, I don't know if either of you were really hell bent on staying here but if you were I'm sorry. It's got to be me, I've got…I _need_ this."

Her plea was earnest and heartfelt, two things not lost on either of them. Kate saw this as her chance at redemption, as a way to get back something she'd thought she'd lost. The Project had stolen so much from them; it was rare to be given the opportunity to gain some of it back. And family, the chance to win back a loved one was even rarer. Knowing that, knowing how much it meant to her, Ninety-One couldn’t by rights deny her and neither could Twelve. If they could help her they would.

“So wha’ we’s gonna do?” Twelve asked, granting Kate a small smile, “No offense but we’s both stron’gar an’ fast’er then yous; how we’s gonna get around dat?”

“We won’t try as hard,” Ninety-One said, “We can’t throw it too much or they’ll catch on but we can hold back just enough so that Kate draws level. In strength we may have her beat but you and I both know she’s smarter than us. This is Atlantis, they’re gonna want someone who can think.”

“Shoo, tha’ could work,” Twelve agreed, “Sound goo’ girl?”

“It’s a start,” she said before turning to her eggs.

An hour later they met with Major Lorne is the second largest of Atlantis’ three gyms. The major greeted them, put them at ease and then told them to change into BDUs. He claimed it was so he could watch them move but the three of them all got them impression that they, in their armor, scared the shit out of him. They’d changed anyways and then promptly been told that they’d start off the day by running laps around the city. It was an easy enough thing to ask and all three of them had taken off at a dead sprint before Lorne had officially shouted “Go!”

Two laps later it’d become a game and Kate was winning. Ninety-One and Twelve might’ve been faster but Kate had the agility needed to constantly weave in and out of people in populated areas. The three of them ended up doing seven laps in thirty minutes before Lorne called them to a halt and had them start something else.

During the expedition's second year, Lorne and his marines had set up an obstacle course for training out on the south pier. The course record, three minutes, had been set by Ronon a little over a year ago. The slowest time for the NC’s was Twelve’s at one minute ten seconds. Lorne had been so shocked he’d made them do it again just to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. After the second run through which produced near identical results as the first, the major was convinced he didn’t imagine it.

After the obstacle course Lorne had taken a few minutes to regroup before leading the three NC's and a growing gaggle of Atlantis personnel down to the shooting range to test their marksmanship. According to the city's records the long wide room had once been a public hall of some kind, like a banquet hall, and used for public gatherings. Over the years since their initial occupation of the city, the space had been transformed and filled with a variety of weapons ranging from the standard P-90's to some more exotic firearms that belonged to various personnel's private gun cache's. They'd also accrued quite the collection of alien weaponry. They'd brokered a deal with the Travelers to give them two dozen of the guns Ronon favored and they even had Genii and Wraith weapons floating around. Lorne's test for the NC's was to see how good they were on whatever was put in front of them.

They started with a semi-automatic M-16 that all three of them broke down and then reassembled faster then was humanely possible. The same went for the P-90, the M4 and the MP5. Eventually they worked through the whole arsenal excepting the non-earth issues which Lorne knew better then to mess with. When that was done the major set them up with targets and had them shoot. One by one Lorne called them up to the lane and had them empty their clips before moving on to the next weapon. By the time they were done everybody that had been watching them was convinced that their aim alone made them more than human. Twelve had done half of his with his eyes closed while Ninety-One and Seventy-four had both managed to hit their targets in near the same place every time. When their targets had been reeled in Lorne had at first been confused that the number of holes didn't match the number of shots fired. Then he'd realized that almost a third of their shots had passed through already hit marks.

If Lorne hadn’t been impressed before he was now.

"How do you know that all of the bullets went through the same hole?" asked Lieutenant Stevens, peering over the major’s shoulder.

“Wider holes mean more than one bullet’s passed through,” Lorne explained, “Remember when the Colonel trained Todd on our weapons a couple of months ago? His target only had one hole but we all heard him fire twenty rounds,” he indicated the targets, “It's the same deal.”

Stevens let out a whistle while Lorne called the three super soldiers over to him and announced that they were all going to the gym to do a PT test. The looks the NC’s had exchanged with each other let everyone know what a joke they thought it was but they went along with it. When Lorne asked them to drop and give him sixty all three of them fell to the mat and did him one better; a hundred pushups in less than a minute.

Evan Lorne decided then and there that continuing would’ve been pointless which is how he arrived at the conclusion that it was high time he saw what all they could actually _do_. Calling for a ten minute break he radioed for Ronon and Sergeant Reyes to meet them in the gym; it was time to see who could last the longest in a fight.

An hour later, deep inside the bowels of Atlantis, a growing crowd of people were cheering loudly – whistling and screaming – while Ronon and Ninety-One went round for round. Neither seemed to be growing tired despite how long they’d been at it and Lorne was seriously contemplating just calling it a draw and moving on or else they'd be there all night.

Teyla had the same thought. “Why do we not stop them now?” she asked, speaking loudly over the din, “Neither one is tiring and we still have others to test.”

“Right,” Lorne nodded. He fished out the whistle Woolsey had given him and blew on it, hard. The fighting stopped and both opponents turned towards him. “’Kay, that’s enough for now,” he announced, “I think it’s safe to say you’re both good,” he glanced towards the big black NC, “You’re next.”

But Twelve shook his head. “Naw,” he said, “Why’s not give missy Kate ‘ere a go?” he nodded towards Teyla, “Yous can makes ‘er fight ‘er.”

Lorne frowned. “Well that wasn’t the plan…” he began.

“It is alright,” Teyla countered, stepping forwards towards the ring. “I am amiable to the idea,” she glanced at the woman, “That is, if you are?”

Kate nodded and stepped forwards. “I’ve got no problem with it.”

Lorne looked at Teyla. “You sure you wanna do this?”

“I’ll be fine,” she bowed her head and then turned to face her opponent, “Shall we begin?”

The raven haired woman nodded and began to circle her. Teyla made the first move.

“This really wasn’t part of the plan Sir,” Lt. Stevens said aside to Lorne as the two women went round and round, “She was supposed to go last and she was supposed to fight Sergeant Reyes.”

The major shrugged. Sergeant Jose Reyes was Atlantis’ chief of security and, consequently, had the most extensive background in hand to hand combat. He and his team were the only members of the city’s military contingent that could keep up with Ronon and the Sergeant had volunteered to be Kate’s sparring partner so that Ronon could have a break. Teyla, however, was just as good.

"I think it'll be alright."

Steven shook his head and turned back to the fight. Teyla and the woman were pretty evenly matched and seemed to fight with a similar style. Teyla struck, Kate blocked; the two of them had yet to actually hit one another. The two women seemed to almost be anticipating each other's moves.

"Well this is going nowhere fast," Captain Jameson observed, coming over to stand by Lorne. He frowned, "Do you think she's reading Teyla's mind?"

Lorne shook his head. "Caldwell would've told us if they could read minds."

"You _hope_ he would've told you," Jameson said. He waved his hand over the women, "This proves nothing."

The major sighed. "Yeah, I'm getting that," he looked to Ronon, "Think you're up to go again? Reyes doesn’t get off rotation for at least another twenty minutes."

The Setedan nodded.

Lorne blew his whistle, Teyla and Kate both relaxed their posture. "Is something wrong" Teyla asked, chest heaving.

Lorne crossed his arms. "We're switching things up," he explained, nodding at Ronon who entered the ring to stand beside Teyla, "Ronon's gonna go for a while."

"Very well," Teyla stepped off the sparing floor.

Ronon turned to face the woman. "You ready?"

She smirked, grey eyes dancing. "When you are."

Like Teyla, Ronon struck out first only this time Kate didn't just block his blow, she caught his fist with hers, turned and used her momentum to swing Ronon around while his arm twisted backwards. He let out a groan of pain and pulled away, striking out at her again. She parried and then ducked under his arms and landed a kick directly to his sternum. Ronon landed flat on his ass, rolled over and was up again in a matter of seconds; the glint of challenge raging in his eyes.

The gym erupted with screams. "Yeah!"

"Get her!"

"Kick his ass!"

Stevens shot Lorne and Jameson a grin. "This is gonna be good."

The two seasoned officers could only nod as they watched the Pegasus native and the human weapon got at each other. _Now this is a fight_ , Lorne thought to himself. It was now plainly obvious that Kate was able to adjust her fighting style to fit her opponent. A sound tactic, the major would bet his hidden stash of chocolate that the soldiers of the NC-26 project had been trained extensively in adaptive combat techniques. What better way to throw your opponents off guard then to, mid battle; start throwing their own moves back at them? Fleetingly he wondered what would happen if one of the NC's were put into the ring with Todd. Lorne would so love to see the wraith get his ass kicked.

"How's it going?"

The major turned. "Colonel!" he greeted, voice raised to a yell in order to be heard, "Thought you couldn't make it!?"

He shrugged. The truth of it was that after their confrontation last night, John had been hoping to avoid Kate for as long as he could. Unfortunately he couldn’t skirt his duty forever though so eventually – after Woolsey had shown up and started asking questions – he’d put the mission reports aside and wandered down here to see what was going on. Walking in on Ronon wailing on his baby sister had so not been what he’d expected.

"Doesn’t look like it’s a very fair fight!" he commented, frowning.

“Actually,” Lorne yelled back, “They’re pretty evenly matched. It's just starting to get good!"

John wasn’t quite sure he believed that but looked back towards the pair of them anyway. What he saw made his breath catch at the same time as his heart took a flying leap up to his throat. Ronon had Kate pinned on her back, arms held above her head while he sat astride her. He was grinning at her as he looked down a sight which made John – who knew Ronon meant no harm by it – sick to his stomach.

"Had enough?" he heard him ask.

Kate grit her teeth, baring them in a snarl. "Not nearly," then, bending her knees, she put her feet on the ground and bucked up, throwing Ronon off her. But it wasn't enough; he still had hold of her wrists and as he fell to the side, his grip on them tightened. To free them Kate sat up, twisted and planted her feet against the wall of his chest. She kicked, he let go and both her shoulders were pulled out of place. Those watching the match all hissed in sympathy but Kate paid them no mind. Instead, with a practiced roll of her shoulders and hunch of her back she felt the familiar tug as her joints settled back into their proper place. She looked up, catching her opponent's eyes.

"Tired?" she taunted.

Ronon growled and began circling her again. This time he waited for her attack. She didn't disappoint. Rushing him, she feinted left at the last minute and whirled around coming up behind him. Ronon was ready and just managed to duck her attempt to put him in a head lock. Turning he caught her around the waist, lifted her up and then carried her forwards until her back hit the wall. He pressed down and felt her squeeze her thighs together, locking her ankles behind his back so he couldn't pull away. The sudden pressure on his ribs made him drop her. She landed on her back while he backed away. She was up again in almost the blink of an eye and Ronon grinned when he saw the hard gleam in her eye; her hands up and ready.

He waited.

Kate came at him with every last ounce of force she had. Ten minutes later, her ribs smarting from the blow Ronon had landed there, Kate realized that she was beginning to tire. As a result, she miscalculated when again she rushed forwards allowing Ronon to catch her wrist, spin and clock her in the face with his elbow.

"Shit!" blood began spurting out her nose, dripping over her mouth and down her chin, "Fuck!"

Before Ronon could respond Lorne's whistle blew. "Match over!" the major called, waving his arms in order to silence the spectators. He turned towards Kate. "Do you need to go to the infirmary?"

Kate nodded and spit out a mouthful of blood onto the floor. "That might be good."

"I'll take her," Ronon volunteered, following her out of the ring, "Sergeant Reyes is here anyway, he can test the other one."

"Right," Lorne said, turning towards the only NC left that hadn't fought, "That okay with you?"

Twelve bowed his head. "Wha'ever."

While Lorne got the last match started Ronon took Kate by the elbow and started leading her towards the infirmary. "You fought good," he told her as they exited the gym. "That thing you did with your shoulders, that was a surprise."

Kate snorted. "Yeah it gets the job done. Hurts like hell though."

"I can imagine."

They entered the transporter but rather then activate it, the Setedan turned to Kate; friendly expression gone. "So how do you know Sheppard?"

Caught completely by surprise Kate blinked. "I…I don't know what you're talking about."

"I saw you," he said, "Last night, on my patrol; heard you talking."

Her eyes narrowed to slits. "What did you hear?”

"Enough," he said stepping forwards, crowding her into a corner of the transporter. “So, you wanna…”

The question hung between them unfinished and Kate sighed. For about five seconds she considered lying but something in the way he was watching her told her that he'd know it if she did. There was nothing for it. "Kate Sheppard," she told him, "My name is Kate Sheppard."

Ronon’s eyes widened; whatever he’d been expecting, this was not it. “Your name’s -”

She nodded. “John’s my brother.”

The Setedan stared at her. In all the years he’d known Sheppard not once had he mentioned having a sister. He’d mentioned a brother, an older brother that usually only came up in some off-handed self-deprecating comments. When Sheppard’s father had died Ronon had gone with him to Earth and met David at the funeral along with Sheppard’s ex-wife Nancy and a lot of other relatives.

He hadn’t met her. “How come you weren’t at the funeral?”

“I…what?” she stammered.

Ronon looked down on her. “Your father’s funeral, you weren’t there.”

The woman looked surprised. “You were?”

He nodded. “Sheppard asked me to come.”

Kate sighed. “I…I was on a mission, didn’t hear about it until a month later. By then…it was a moot point.”

Regret rang heavy in her words and made Ronon truly look at her for the first time since he’d cornered her. What he saw staring back at him made his doubts fade; the woman had Sheppard’s jawline and his same nose, their eyes were also the same in shape if not the same in color. It made the runner curious. “How come he’s never mentioned you before?”

Shoulders slumping, Kate dropped her head and looked away, unable to meet his eyes. “I…made a mistake,” she said, “Neither one of us handled it well.”

Ronon raised an eyebrow.

The question was clear, _what happened_ , but Kate wasn’t really one to go around sharing her secrets just because someone asked for them. Something told her, however, that getting out of this would only happen once her opponent’s curiosity was met. With this in mind, she decided to give him the abridged version. “John saved me from making a really horrible choice and I turned around and disappeared on him. I didn’t tell him where I was going, I just up and left. When I got back I expected him to be there but he wasn’t. He came here and I’ve spent the last seven years looking for him.”

She glanced up, gaze locking with his. “I’m not leaving him again.”

And, just like that, Ronon found himself staring into a pair of eyes reflecting the same stubborn determination Sheppard displayed on a regular basis. “So you wanna be the one that stays?” he guessed.

Kate nodded. “I _just_ found him. I can’t…I won’t lose him again.”

Taking a moment to carefully look at her, Ronon slowly nodded. “Okay.”

Kate blinked. “Okay?” she echoed, “What do you mean okay?”

He looked at her. “You’ve got a plan right?” she nodded, “So, what is it?”

Hesitating for only a moment, Kate told him. "Ninety-One and Twelve said they're gonna rig the tests by not trying as hard while I give them my all."

Ronon frowned. "That's not gonna be enough."

Kate glared at him. "Well then _you_ come up with something!"

"I'll think about it," he said, signaling one of the nurses over to them as soon as they interred the sick bay, "She broke her nose, needs it reset."

Nodding the nurse took Kate and led her over to one of the beds before instructing her to sit. Trusting that she was in good hands, Ronon looked on for a moment more before taking his leave. He had an idea about how to help Kate but first he had to talk to Sheppard. With this in mind he lengthened his stride and pointed his steps in the direction of the colonel’s seldom occupied office and hoped he’d be there. If not, the people had a saying about it being better to ask for forgiveness then permission. Ronon just hoped that it was true otherwise his plan, might just get him killed.

When he arrived, it was to the sounds of Rodney and Sheppard arguing. He stopped to listen.

"No Rodney we're not gonna toss them out the back of a jumper!"

"Okay, when I said that what I _really_ meant was - "

"What you really meant is you want them to do an air drop without a parachute."

"Well yeah, kinda, but just hear me out -"

"And since we don't have any C-130's lying about that means tossing them out the back of a jumper."

"Damn it Sheppard would you just _listen!?!_ If they really _are_ super soldiers then it won't matter because they'll -"

"We're not doing it Rodney!"

"But what about -"

"Am I interrupting?"

Together, both Sheppard and McKay stopped their verbal battle and turned towards the door. Ronon raised one busy eyebrow at the pair of them. "So who're we throwing out the back of a jumper?"

John scowled. "Rodney here wants to see how 'super' the NC's really are by throwing them out the back of a flying jumper," he glared at his teammate, "Which we are absolutely _not_ doing!"

The Canadian scoffed. "It wouldn't hurt them," he protested, "Not if they're really super soldiers."

"How the hell do you know!?!"

Ronon looked at him. "Yeah McKay, how do you know?"

Rodney deflated but only a little bit. "Well I just…I mean…" he drove his hands into his pockets, "Captain America could've done it."

John gave him an exasperated look. "Captain…are you _kidding_ me!?! This is not a comic Rodney, they're real people!"

"Real _super_ people," the scientist argued, "I mean couldn't we just -"

"Get out of my office!"

Rodney blinked. "I…what?"

Sheppard's face was grim. "Get…out…of…my…OFFICE!"

His teammate dithered. "Oh, but I-"

"NOW!"

Rodney quaked. Ronon glanced at him. "I'd do what the man says."

With one last squeak of protest Rodney retreated, scurrying out of the room and back towards the control tower. John sighed and sank down into his chair. Running his hands over his face he rubbed at his eyes groaning as he did so. "You just get back from the infirmary?"

Ronon nodded.

"How's Kate?"

“Your sister’s fine,” he said and then he waited.

John nodded. “Good, that’s…” abruptly he stopped, looking up, “My _what!?!_ ” he screeched.

“The girl, Seventy-Four,” Ronon reiterated, “Her name’s Kate Sheppard, she’s your -”

“Exactly how much did you hear last night!?”

Ronon shrugged. “Not much.”

John fumed. “Then how the fuck do you know Kate’s my -”

“She told me.”

Alarm flashed hot and loud over his face and before he could stop himself he was screaming. “Why the hell would she do that!?!”

Another shrug, Ronon was being way to calm about this. “I asked her.”

John fumed. “Have you told anyone?” he demanded.

Ronon shook his head.

“Are you planning on it?” another shake, “Good, then we can forget all about -”

“She wants to be the one to stay,” Ronon deadpanned, watching Sheppard to see what his reaction would be.

The colonel let out a bone weary sigh and collapsed back into his chair. For a moment he didn’t say anything and as the silence stretched on Ronon began to wonder if he ever would. But then, after several minutes had passed, Sheppard began to talk. He told Ronon how he was older than Kate and that he had helped raise her, he explained how their dad hadn’t known what to do with a girl so Kate’d been shoved into every extracurricular and after school activity that could be managed and how he’d always been there whenever she’d needed him.

“Until she left,” John was saying, the words tumbling from his mouth before he could stop them, “She says she did it because she needed to learn how to save herself but I…and now she’s _here_ and she’s a God damned super soldier and I – I nearly had a heart attack when I saw her. It's been seven years. I came here thinking she didn’t need me anymore and now she’s here and I…I don’t know what to do.”

Listening to Sheppard lament, Ronon understood; all too well he understood. For seven years he'd been a runner: never in one place for long, constantly fearing for his life, fighting to survive. Then, one day, it had all stopped and he'd been free: free to start again, to go back to the person he'd been before. But it wasn't that easy, it was never easy and now Sheppard was facing the same dilemma. He'd been without Kate for as many years as Ronon had been on the run and now she was here, back in his live so very suddenly. He wasn't prepared; he wasn't ready to be a brother again or to suddenly have a sister to look after. There had been no warning. Ronon hadn't had any warning either, he'd survived. Sheppard would survive too.

“It can’t be her.”

Ronon looked up, surprised. “Why not?”

Sheppard was looking at him, hazel eyes pleading. “The stuff we see, the stuff we do, the Wraith…she’s not safe here. It _can’t_ be her. I can’t…the day she was born I promised I’d protect her. I just can’t do that here. If something were to happen to her I’d…I’d never forgive myself.”

And while the words were real, full of real sadness, Sheppard’s countenance betrayed him. He might say he didn’t want her to stay but Ronon could see that his friend desperately needed her to. Sheppard had been withering for a while now, the strain of protecting the city and the war with the Wraith eating away at him, wearing him down bit by bit. Cracks were starting to appear in his armor as it slowly began to tarnish. He needed a savior, he needed his sister whether he thought he did or not.

And Kate needed him; just nether of them realized it yet.

“I gotta go,” he said, rising to his feet, “I’ll catch you later.”

John frowned. “So soon? You just got here.”

He shrugged, offering the only explanation he could think of.  “I’m hungry.”

The colonel snickered. “Yeah alright, go,” he said, waving his friend away, “Save me some though huh? I’ll be down after I finish these mission reports.”

Promising that he would, Ronon left Sheppard’s office but, rather than head for the mess hall, took off in the direction of Woolsey’s office. He hadn’t been sure before talking to Sheppard that he was gonna help Kate, now he was. Knocking on the doorframe, he waited for Woolsey to see him before he entered.

“Yes Ronon?” the Director said when he saw him.

“Can I come in?”

“Of course,” said Woolsey, gesturing for the Setedan to sit, “What can I do for you?”

Ronon grunted. “I had an idea, for a test.”

“You mean for the NC’s?”

He nodded.

Woolsey was intrigued. “Go on.”

“We’ve got a mission tomorrow,” he explained, “Gonna go check out something for Todd. They’re here to deal with the Wraith right? We can take them with us, see how they do.”

The director considered it. “That’s actually not a bad idea,” he admitted, “Things always seem to go sideways when he do stuff for Todd; it might pay to have a little extra backup.”

Ronon grinned. “Couldn’t hurt right?”

Woolsey regarded him. “Thank you Ronon, I’ll be sure to put in my report that this was your idea. Until then, is there anything else you’d like to discuss?”

He shook his head, stood and left. This time he really did head towards the mess hall.

~xXx~

Noon the next day found Ronon, Rodney, Teyla and Lorne, a squad of marines, all three NC’s and one very livid Colonel John Sheppard in the gate-room waiting to depart. When Woolsey had come to him last night to inform him that the super soldiers would be accompanying him and his team on their mission, he’d objected. Loudly. His arguments had fallen on deaf ears however as the more and more he protested, the more resolute Woolsey had become. In the end Sheppard had run out of reasons why it was a bad idea long before Richard had run out of reasons why it was a good one. With a growl John had had to concede defeat and so here he stood, watching his sister talk with Ronon until Woolsey gave them the go.

“I expect you back in four hours Colonel,” Woolsey called down to them, “If it takes longer than that, Todd can do it himself.”

Giving the signal to move out, Sheppard called back, “No promises,” before clipping his P-90 to his vest and walking through the gate. He found himself in the harsh light of a blinding desert, ankle deep in red sand.

"Okay," he called, looking around at his team, "I want you two - Twelve and Ninety-One - on point up front. Ronon, you and Kate take our six, cover our tracks. Everyone else, in the middle. Don't be afraid to spread out, I don't want any surprises."

"Fat chance of that Colonel," called Lorne, "When Todd's involved, somehow everything always goes sideways.”

Ninety-One snickered. "It's like that at the SGC with Ba'al."

"You still work with him?" Stackhouse – a former member of SG-17 before coming to Atlantis – asked, surprised, "I'd've thought you'd have kicked him to the curb by now for what he did to O'Neil."

John frowned. "The general?" he asked, “What’d he do?”

"Killed him," Stackhouse explained, glancing over at Sheppard as they walked, "You know what the sarcophagus' do right?" his CO nodded, "Every time he killed him, Ba'al stuck him in one and brought him back to life. Then he did it all over again."

John winced. "Bet that wasn't fun."

"Not particularly," Kate spoke up from the rear, "Daniel keeps trying to get him to talk about it but so far; no dice."

"Spend a lot of time rubbing elbows with the General do you?" one of the marines, a Lt. Williams, asked. He gave her a once over, “You some type of big wig back at the SGC?”

Kate's eyes narrowed. “No.”

He leered at her. “Then how do you know anything about the General and Dr. Jackson?”

Before Kate could rise to her down defense, Ninety-One did it for her. "When we first got sent to the SGC,  Vala took a shine to her," he explained, nodding at Kate, "It was Vala that got her to give up her name. Said she wasn’t gonna keep calling her Seventy-Four all the time."

Teyla turned to her. “What is your name?” she asked, “I had thought I heard your peers call you something yesterday. Kat or something similar?”

“Kate,” she corrected the Athosian, “My name’s Kate.”

“Kate what?” asked Williams. The question earned him a glare, “What’s the big deal anyway?”

“When we joined the Project they took our names and gave us numbers, like serial numbers on a rifle. We were things to them, not people. Advanced weapons that walked and talked. Our names remind us of who we used to be before the government bought and sold us; we don’t just give them away.”

Sobered by Kate’s explanation, Williams turned away and the group fell silent. The terrain was becoming less sandy the further they got from the gate. Eventually the sand disappeared altogether and gave way to scorched earth and rocks for them to stumble over. Another couple minutes and they started trudging uphill.

“Dis here place reminds me of PX9  – 254,” Twelve grumbled from up front, calling back to Kate as he climbed, “Yous know, dat planet yous and Vala started a war’s on.”

"A _war_?" screeched Rodney turning to the woman, "You started a war?"

"It wasn't a war, more like a skirmish,” protested Kate, “Nobody died.”

"Bitch it was a mother-fucking war," insisted Twelve loudly, "I's know because I's had to come rescue your ass."

Kate scowled.

"How did that happen?" Teyla wanted to know, curious.

Rolling her eyes, Kate opened her mouth to explain.

"I don't think we have time to go over it," called back Ninety-One from the top of a ridge, "Colonel, I think you're gonna want to see this."

Unclipping his P-90 from his vest, Sheppard took it in hand and moved to the head of the line, stopping once he’d reached the NC. His eyes widened. Below them, perched on the rocky bottom of a huge ravine, was a hive. And since it didn’t seem to have any trees growing on it, John would hazard a guess at it not having been there long.

"’Oly fuck," exclaimed Twelve coming up on the two of them, "Dat a big ship."

"Yeah, they're pretty big," John agreed, frowning, "Question is, what's it doing here?"

"What do you mean?" asked Ninety-One.

"He means that landing a hive is difficult even in the best of circumstances," said Rodney, joining them, "If it's here then it's probably because they don't want the other Wraith to know what they're doing."

"Then how'd Todd find out?" asked Stackhouse.

John rolled his eyes. "You kidding? Todd's got his hands in more pies then a damned octopus. He's got more contacts then the CIA."

"So what's the plan?" Kate asked from behind John, "We gotta go down there right?"

The colonel winced. "Unfortunately," he sighed, "Okay, we should -" a hand clamped down on his arm, silencing him. Startled by the contact he turned only to find Kate looking behind her. "What is it?" he asked.

She frowned. "I thought I heard -"

"That is because you did, human."

Weapons drawn, the twelve of them spun around to face three Wraith commanders and an entire squad of drones coming towards them from over the ridge to their right.

"Ah hell.”

"Indeed," hissed the lead Wraith, eyes roving the gathered humans. They landed on the male standing behind a black-haired female. "Colonel Sheppard," the commander greeted, growling, "No doubt you are here at the behest of your traitorous ally?"

The human gave a flippant shrug of his shoulders. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said, "We were just out for a stroll. It's a nice day and -"

"Silence!" the Wraith hissed, turning to give instructions to the drones, "Take the others to the cells, I will take this one to see the Queen."

A look from Sheppard told the NC’s not to try and fight as the Wraith separated them and marched them to separate areas of the hive. The colonel was taken presumably to the throne room while the others were led down to the cells and left. As soon as they were gone, Ninety-One stepped forwards and tested the strength of the bars.

“Yes, don’t you think we’ve tried that?” asked Rodney condescendingly while the super solider frowned.

“You mean to tell me that after all the times you’ve been captured by the Wraith you don’t know how to get out of their cells?”

Rodney glared at him. “It’s not that simple.”

Ninety-One snorted. “I think it is,” he turned to Kate then nodded towards the largest of openings in the web like bars, “Think you can get through them?”

After studying the hole a moment, Kate nodded. With Rodney scoffing in the background she stuck her head and one shoulder through, popped her other shoulder out of place and then wriggled through. It was only after she was standing in the corridor between the two cells that the Canadian physicist paused long enough to realize she’d gotten out.

“How’d you do that?” he demanded.

Rather than answer, Kate began searching the wall for some type of release mechanism.

“There,” said Teyla, pointing to the part of the wall where Kate needed to look, “You need only touch it and it shall release us.”

Following the Athosian’s instructions, Kate located the panel and placed her hand on it. Immediately the web like bars retracted into the wall and those held captive were set free.

Instantly Rodney had turned to her. “Now what?”

“Now we complete the mission,” she said, glancing around at the others, “Colonel Sheppard’s right, this hive wouldn’t be here unless it was up to something; it’s imperative that we find out what.”

“So what’s the plan?” asked Ronon.

“We split up,” said Ninety-One, “Kate’ll take McKay and see if you can find a data terminal or something. Williams and Roads, you’ll go with ___________.The rest of us are going after the Colonel.”

Nodding in agreement with the plan, Kate grabbed Rodney and motioned for Williams and Roads to fall in behind her while everyone else took off down the corridor towards the throne room. Time was on their side since it’d taken less than usual to get out of their cell. As long as the Wraith didn’t discover them missing, they were golden.

“Which way?” asked Kate once they could no longer hear the other’s footsteps.

Rodney pulled out his life-signs-detector and pulled up a schematic of the hive. “This way.”

Ten minutes later, the marines were posed at the door of a small lab while Rodney expertly, albeit with slight difficulty, plugged himself into the data terminal in the center of the room and started scanning files.

“Find anything?” Kate asked.

He shook his head. “Nothing yet, this could take a while.”

“We don’t have a while.”

He glared at her. “Well unless you happen to speak Wraith, I suggest you stop asking stupid questions and let me do my job!”

Resisting the urge to beat the obnoxious, overinflated doctor senseless, Kate left him where he stood and wondered over to a secondary terminal in the very back of the lab. Experimentally she touched the membrane like interface and was surprised to find it readily responsive. She began selecting files and searching the contents for while none of the writing made any sense, she figured that anything truly important would be encrypted. A minute later she found a folder that wouldn’t open.

“McKay!”

Annoyed by the interruption, Rodney nonetheless left his terminal and came to her side. “Yes, what?” he snapped.

She pointed at the file on screen. “This one won’t open.”

His eyes narrowed. “What, you want a metal? Congratulations you found a file that doesn’t open. Seriously you called me away for -”

“You have two seconds to shut up or I will shove my foot up your ass!”

McKay’s mouth clamped shut. From the door, Kate thought she heard Williams snicker. She turned back to McKay. “Now, tell me doctor, why do people normally encrypt files?”

He scoffed. “To hide something important.”

Kate gave him a look; almost immediately she saw the proverbial lightbulb go off in his head. Within seconds she’d been shoved unceremoniously out of the way by the over eager scientist. “You’re welcome,” she grumbled under her breath, watching as McKay began quickly hacking away at the encryption.

“Yes, yes, very good,” said Rodney sounding dismissive when, in reality, he was actually rather impressed. How had she known to look for a file that couldn’t be opened? The question was filed away for later as, with another two strokes, his algorithm cracked the encryption and suddenly the file’s contents was displayed on the screen. His eyes widened, “Whoa.”

Standing on her tip toes, Kate peered over his shoulder. “They’re equations,” she noted, “It looks like calculus on steroids.”

“Calculus on steroids, I like that,” he mumbled, a nagging in the back of his brain told him he’d seen something like this before. “I think I’ve seen…oh no.”

Kate looked at him. “What?”

He paled. “I’ve seen these equations before,” he said, panic beginning to set it, “When I got hit with Atlantis' ascension machine and it turned on the inactive parts of my brain. I studied this. These are the equations for how to make ZedPM's.”

“And that’s bad?” Kate guessed.

“Yes, of course it’s bad!” Rodney wailed, “Insufficient power generation is the one downside to Wraith technology. If they figure out how to overcome that then that's it, we're done.”

An idea began to form in the back of Kate’s mind. “What if we did it?”

He looked at her, frowning. “What do you mean?”

She pointed at the screen. “Could we use these?”

Rodney shook his head. “I see where you’re going with this and the answer’s no, not as they are. I mean these equations are advanced, even for me. There’s no way I could -”

“What if you had some help?” she asked, “That Wraith Todd or whatever the hell his name is, he’s supposed to be brilliant right? Smarter then you?”

“Well I don’t think he’s smarter than me, he just knows more -”

“McKay!”

He deflated. “Yes okay! With Todd’s help I might be able to figure these out but I don’t see why we’d want to. Our understanding of sub-space time is nowhere near good enough to try and make one. We’d probably be at it for years before we ever made any type of -”

“We don’t need to make one we just need to be able to tell the IOA we’re working on it,” she studied him, “You’ve been trying to convince them that they need to keep Atlantis in Pegasus for a while now right? What better way than with the promise of figuring out how to make our own ZPM’s?”

Rodney stared at her. “That’s the most….that might actually work.”

“Thanks, I do try.”

With a snap of his fingers, Rodney took out his tablet and plugged it into the wraith terminal. Immediately he began copying files. “Done,” he announced triumphantly, “Now we can -”

Shots erupted behind caused both Rodney and Kate to look up and turn towards the door where a squad of drones was attempting to enter the lab. Williams and Roads fought valiantly but ultimately succumbed. They fell and Rodney soon found himself face to face with one of the hive’s commanders.

“Dr. McKay,” the Wraith hissed, “You have something that belongs to us.”

Rodney squeaked and clutched the to tablet to his chest. Kate stepped in front of him.

“You want him; you’re going to have to go through me.”

Grinning evilly, the Wraith lunged for her, feeding hand outstretched. Rather than dodge it, Kate caught it and turned, twisting the commander’s arm back behind him. A swift kick landed him on his knees and while he was otherwise distracted, stunned by her show of strength, Kate reached out and with a quick twist snapped his neck. Letting the body fall to the floor she turned and immediately went after the drones blocking their escape. They took longer and unlike her fight with the commander, Kate did not escape this one unscathed. A gash above her eye and another across her cheek were her badges as the drones fell dead around her until none were left.

Breathing heavily, she turned to Rodney. He was staring at her.

“How…you -”

“We need to go,” he didn’t move, “Now, McKay!”

Snapping out of his stupor, Rodney took one last look at the bodies around her before nodding and following her from the room.

~xXx~

On the other side of the hive Ronon, Teyla, Ninety-One and the others were nearly halfway to the throne room when their group was set upon by two separate squads of drones coming at them from both ends of the corridor. On Ninety-One’s order, they had opened fire but were quickly overcome. The drones outnumbered them nearly three to one and Porter and James, the two remaining marines, went down quick. Rather than continue to fight, the five remaining humans allowed themselves to be taken captive and marched along the corridors to the throne room.

The Queen turned towards them upon their arrival. “What is this?” she demanded, “Why have you brought them here?”

“My Queen,” a commander greeted, stepping forwards to indicate the humans following him, “The humans escaped their cells. We found them just outside.”

“Very well then,” the female hissed, returning her gaze to the prone form of the human at her feet. Below her, Sheppard gazed up at her defiantly. She growled, “If you will not tell me what I want to know then I shall try obtaining it from one of your friends.”

Forced to kneel, held tight within the thrall of the queen, John could only struggle weakly as the Wraith turned and made her way over towards the others. Stalking down the line, she seemed to be considering her options. With a hiss she stopped in front of Twelve.

“This one.”

The NC gulped. “Ah man, dis is gonna -”

The Queen’s hand slamming down on his chest cut off the rest of his sentence. In its place, Twelve let out only a grunt of pain.

“Tell me what I want to know!” the Queen commanded, feeling the rush of euphoric strength flood through her as she fed. “You are _strong_ ,” she hissed, pleasure washing through her. “Tell me what I want to know human and I shall spare you your life.”

“Go…t’…hell..bitch!”

Angry, the feeding Wraith pushed forwards, intent on syphoning every last drop of defiance from her victim. He was just beginning to weaken when a sound – a shot – split the air. A moment later a sharp, hot pain pierced her shoulder and she screamed. Golden eyes, amber in fury, looked around wildly until they found the attacker: a single human female who stood above them, weapon primed and pointed directly at her.

The Queen hissed while the eyes of all present followed hers. Collective gasps rippled through the Atlantians at the look of cold malice inscribed across their savior’s face, grey eyes turned to glass.

“How dare you!” growled the Queen, turning to face the female human head on, “I will destroy you for th -”

Another shot echoed throughout the chamber as Kate fired off another round this one directly to the Queen’s head; a perfect kill shot.

No longer enthralled, John surged to his feet. “Kate, run!”

His sister needed no further prompting. Abandoning her perch, she disappeared into the darkness leaving the Wraith, baying for the blood of their queen’s slayer, to give chase. Only a single Wraith remained behind to stand guard over the prisoners and, under a volley of poorly aimed but effective gun fire, he was quickly dispatched; Rodney stepping out of the darkness.

“Nice shooting Doc,” quipped Lorne.

The scientist flustered. “Yes, well, at least I hit him.”

The major snickered and looked down at the dead wraith. “Yeah, you hit him. He looks like Swiss cheese.”

Rodney opened his mouth to defend himself; Sheppard cut him off.

“We don’t have time for this!” he barked, turning to Ninety-One, “You, help Twelve up and focus on getting everybody back to the gate.”

“Where are you going?” Ronon asked, while Sheppard had been speaking he’d started edging towards the door.

John looked at him, for a moment their eyes locked. “I’m going to help Kate.”

Nodding, Ronon let him, turning back to the others while John, like Kate, disappeared into the darkness.

~xXx~

Kate ran.

Pumping arms and legs, she weaved a twisted path through the hive taking her pursuers on a merry chase that, hopefully, would give the others ample time to make their escape. As she ran she thought about the ramifications of her and McKay’s discovery. If what he said was true and power generation was the Achilles’ heel of the wraith then they needed to make sure no other Wraith found out about it. With this in mind she changed course. No longer running mindlessly through the corridors she instead headed towards the main engine room. She’d nearly reached it when she turned a corner and almost ran into a commander.

“Shit!” she cursed, coming up short as the angry wraith stalked towards her, “This is gonna -”

But before the wraith could come closer, two shots ringing from the darkness dropped him dead. Spinning around, Kate came face to face with her brother.

“John.”

He looked at her, eyes drinking in her face. “Come on,” he said, “Exit’s this w -”

“We can’t leave yet.”

John stared at her. “Why the hell not!?!”

His sister sighed. “Rodney and I found an encrypted file in one of their data bases. It contained the equations for a ZPM – seems the Wraith are trying to make their own. I don’t know where they got the info but we can’t leave unless we’re sure -”

“…someone else can’t just waltz in here and take it,” John groaned, “Okay, right; so, what’s the plan?”

Kate started walking, trusting her brother to follow. He did. “I memorized the layout of the hive when I first started scanning through the ship's files -”

“You can _do_ that? Memorize something that fast?”

She nodded. “My body isn’t the only thing they enhanced; my mind got an upgrade too.”

“The hell does that mean?” John wanted to know, “Are you trying to tell me you’re as smart as Rodney because that’s -”

“Fuck no,” Kate shook her head emphatically, “I can memorize information and regurgitate it but it’s not like I could fix a hyper-drive or calculate how to blow up a sun.”

As they entered the engine room and started to look around for the best place to lay a charge, John offhandedly commented, “I could you know,” then, “Fix a hyper-drive not blow up a sun.”

His sister snorted. “Yeah and I bet nobody knows that either,” she shot him a look, “Play dumb a lot don’t you?”

“I’ve got a base to run; I don’t have time to solve math problems. That’s what Rodney’s for.”

Kate chuckled before stopping in front of what she was pretty sure was a type of generator. A quick scan proved her theory to be correct and, with a wave, she called her brother over. “Here,” she said, pointing at the terminal’s data output, “This is the main power generator for the hyper-drive. If we jam it and then activate it the power buildup -”

“ – Should overload the conduits and the ship’ll blow,” he leaned over her, “Do you wanna do the honors or can I?”

“You’re the engineer,” she quipped, reminding him that she knew what he’d studied in college.

John scowled but stooped down, prying a panel on the generator’s base loose so he could begin crossing wires. “Don’t tell Rodney.”

Kate snickered, holding the flashlight he handed her above her head so that John could see what he was doing. Within minutes John had sufficiently fucked up the generator enough to cause a cataclysmic explosion. Then he activated the hyper-drive, setting a delay so that he and his sister would have enough time to escape.

Then they ran.

Since Kate had the place memorized, John followed her. She was taking the long way, probably trying to keep from running into anybody which as far as he was concerned, was fine by him. Their luck ran out, however, when they neared the bridge. Careening around a corner, they nearly ran into a squad of drones and what looked like half the hive’s commanders. John came up short, reaching for his gun as he expected Kate to reach for hers.

She didn’t.

Instead, John watched in awe as his baby sister plowed through the Wraith; ducking and weaving and killing as though mass slaughter were something she did every day. _That’s because it is_ , his thoughts whispered, mocking him and his desire to keep her safe; to shelter her like he had when she’d been a little girl. But Kate wasn’t a little girl, not anymore. She was a woman: a wonderful, capable woman who fought with the all the fury of a raging storm.

He was so proud of her, so fiercely proud and as the last Wraith fell, John could not help but look at her in awe.

“Let’s go.”

Nodding, John stepped over the bodies of the Wraith his sister had killed and silently followed her down the hall.

~xXx~

“What the hell was he thinking, running off after her!?! She’s a damned super soldier; she can take care of herself!”

Ronon grunted, pushing McKay to walk faster. They’d run into minimal resistance during their escape and were now more than halfway up the side of the ravine. About ten minutes ago, McKay had started complaining about Sheppard and, personally, Ronon was tired of it. “Sheppard doesn’t leave people behind,” he reminded the scientist, hoping to shut him up, “Keep walking.”

But Rodney wasn’t quelled. “But what if -”

Lorne growled. “If it bothers you so much we’ll wait for them as soon as we get to the top of this damned hill. If they’re not out in ten minutes then me and Ronon’ll go back.”

Satisfied, Rodney let the matter drop. When they reached the top, Lorne told Teyla and Ninety-One to keep going towards the gate. After promising to tell Woolsey what had happened and send aid if necessary, Teyla and the only remaining super solider walked on; Twelve hanging limp and unresponsive on his comrade’s back.

Turning back to the hive, the three men strained their eyes for any signs of either Sheppard or Kate. They didn’t have to wait long. Not two minutes later the Colonel and Kate came racing out of the hive both of them at a dead sprint. Immediately Lorne and Ronon went on the defensive, prepared to lay down cover fire if necessary but when nothing came out after them, all three of them started to frown.

“Huh,” said Rodney, “I wonder what they’re running fr -”

The hive started to hum, its engines and hyper-drive activating despite the fact that it was still bound to the planet. Immediately Rodney knew what they’d done. His eyes widened as he calculated how much time they had before the power build up caused an explosion. It wasn’t enough, there was no way they could outrun it.

And neither could they.

“Everybody down!” he shouted, taking cover. Lorne and Ronon followed suit just as, down below, Kate tackled Sheppard and covered his body with hers.

**_BOOOOMMMM!!!_ **

The explosion ripped apart the hive, instantly shattering it into million pieces while simultaneously kicking up a storm of dust that obscured everything. The earth rumbled and screamed before, suddenly, all was still. From their perch above the blast crater Lorne, Ronon and Rodney stood cautiously. Their ears were ringing and, in Rodney’s case, bleeding from the concussive force of the blast. Desperately worried, all three of them took off down the steep side of the gorge which was now much more a canyon then a gully.

They hit the bottom at a run and began shouting, calling their commander’s name even though they could barely hear their own voices.

“Sheppard!”

“Colonel!”

“John!”

There was no answer. It was Ronon who regained his hearing first and the former runner strained his ears for any sign that his friend and his sister had survived the blast. It wasn’t until McKay had started to panic and even Lorne was getting ready to give up hope that Ronon saw something moving towards them through the haze. The something got closer and then Rodney and Lorne saw it. Together the three of them stopped and waited for it to materialize and, when it did, they all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Ronon thanked the stars. “Sheppard!”

The Colonel walked towards them supporting Kate whose arm was wound around her brother’s shoulder. She was pale, covered in blood and looked barely able to stand. Even her eyes were glazed and, as the two of them joined the others, Lorne found himself looking her over and wondering what the hell happened.

“She used herself as a shield, to protect me,” John supplied, answering the unspoken question on the major’s face. “She…she ah…”

“She saved your life.”

John looked at Ronon and nodded, hazel eyes screaming at his friend all the things he wanted to say but couldn’t. Not with Lorne and Rodney standing so close.

Kate, meanwhile, could feel the last of her strength leaving her. With a grunt she felt her knees give out causing her to buckle under the force of her own weight. Instantly she felt her brother’s arms around her, holding her up. A voice from her childhood began to whisper into her ear, telling her to take her time and to lean on him, promising her that she was safe. Wearily she let her head fall onto John’s shoulder, giving herself a moment to gather the last reserves of her strength before pushing herself away and telling him that she was fine.

“You sure?” John asked worry digging deeper into his tone. He felt Lorne give him a look but felt confident he could explain it all away as nothing more than concern for the woman who had just saved his life.  

Kate nodded. “Yeah, I’m good Sir,” then, “Sorry.”

“Got nothing to be sorry for,” said Ronon, taking her from Sheppard before her brother could completely blow their cover. “Come on, Teyla and the other two are waiting for us at the gate.”

Wordlessly, Kate allowed herself to be transferred out of her brother’s custody and into the only other person who’d earned her trust. Then, with Lorne helping John and McKay trailing along behind, they started limping back towards the gate.

~xXx~

Hours later – while Kate and Twelve convalesced in the infirmary under the careful care of Dr. Keller – Sheppard, Ronon, Lorne, Teyla and Rodney all met in Woolsey’s office. It was decision time and, given everything that’d just happened and the outcome thereof, the decision was pretty straight forwards.

“So we’re in agreement then?” Atlantis’ director asked, looking around the room at everyone in turn, “You’re sure you want her?”

Ronon nodded. “She saved our asses.”

“She saved the colonel’s life!” added Lorne, “That’s gotta count for something!”

“And it was her idea to take the file,” exclaimed Rodney. Everyone looked at him, surprised by his enthusiasm. He stammered, “Well I…it’s just…a really big deal. Kate said that we don’t even have to actually make one; all we’ve got to do is tell the IOA we’re working on it and that’s it. We’ll have them -”

“We've got it,” snapped the colonel, still just a tad on edge, “Thanks Rodney.”

The scientist swallowed nervously. “Ah, n-no problem, here to help.”

Woolsey sighed. “Then it’s settled then,” he said, “I’ll go tell our newest member the good news.”

As Woolsey rose and swept from the office, the others filed out and went on their merry ways. John lingered and because he was the only one that knew the whole story, Ronon lingered too.

“You wanted this right?” he asked, needing to hear Sheppard confirm it.

John nodded.

“Then what’s the problem?”

Sheppard shook his head. “It’s supposed to be the other way around,” he tried to explain, “She’s not supposed to protect me, I’m supposed to protect her.”

Ronon grunted. “Maybe you can protect each other.”

The idea wasn’t half bad and made John smile. Leaving Ronon in Woolsey’s office, the Colonel walked down to his quarters, entered and then shut the door behind him. Looking around at the Spartan room he crossed over to his nightstand where the novel _War and Peace_ sat gathering dust. The book was one of the only two personal items he’d originally brought with him to Atlantis and, taking up the old, leather bound copy, John flipped it open revealing the picture that had long since been stuck in its pages; hidden away from the rest of the world.

It was an old Polaroid taken years ago just after he’d graduated from basic. There he stood proud and tall in his dress blues, gold butter bars gleaming from his chest. But what struck him most about the picture was not how young he looked or how proud or how eager. No, what struck him most was the person at his side: a little eight year old girl with black hair and grey eyes who loved her brother so much she’d cried when he’d told her he had to go away. She stood next to him clutching his hand while looking at him with such worshipful admiration you’d think he was something holy. It brought a smile to his face as his fingers traced the image, determination strengthening an already strong resolve. He’d lost her once, the little girl in the picture, but now she was back and John knew he’d never let her go again.

Never


	2. The Assignment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate gets an assignment from Woolsey while Todd accompanies Sheppard and his team into an Ancient facility in search of ZPMs. There, they run into some old adversaries who, shockingly, blow the lid off the very secret John and Kate have been hiding...

**Episode II: The Assignment**

A week after the disaster of a mission that left four marines dead and NC Twelve injured and in a coma, Richard Woolsey sat at his desk studying the file on Atlantis' newest personnel member.  The information contained therein detailed the impressive accomplishments of the woman called Kate who had told him several days ago that she preferred her name over her numerical designation. This was good since Colonel Sheppard stubbornly refused to call her Seventy-Four and, in a show of unity, the rest of the city had followed his lead. At present, Kate was standing just in front of him, in parade rest, waiting for him to speak. After a final glance downwards, Richard raised his head and tried very hard not to flinch when he looked her in the eye.

"How are you finding Atlantis?"

Back stiff and hands clasped respectively behind her back, Kate looked down on him and replied, "Well enough. It's…different. I'll get used to it."

Woolsey nodded, appreciating her candor. From what he could gather she wasn't one to freely admit to being off her game. In fact he was pretty sure she saw uncertainty as a weakness. "If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask," he told her, "Either myself or Colonel Sheppard will be more than happy to accommodate you."

A small, curt nod was the woman's only reply.

Richard sighed. "I suppose you're wondering why I asked you here?"

"I'm a bit curious," she responded, voice flat. She was going to have to work on that. Apathy or rather, the perception thereof, was her first line of defense in new situations. It might serve well as a shield but it often times put people off and made them think she was cold. If she could avoid that here she would.

The director seemed to understand that this transition was difficult for her, more so then her last CO had. It was no secret that Kate hadn't been exactly liked while at the SGC. The only person she talked to on a regular basis was Vala. "I've been going over your file," Woolsey was saying, taking Kate from her thoughts and back to the present, "In addition to your enhancements, it says that you show an exceptional aptitude for information reconnaissance and surgical threat elimination. I can only assume this means that you’re a spy."

Kate nodded. "That's the common vernacular for what I do, yes."

Woolsey appraised her. "I have a job for you."

She blinked at him. "In addition to my standing mission?"

"More like in congruency with," he explained, leaning forwards. "You’re here to deal primarily with the Wraith and while I'm sure the SGC would interpret that as finding better ways to defend against them, I want to try another approach."

Admittedly Kate was intrigued. To demonstrate, she allowed one eyebrow to inch upwards.

The director continued. "Our knowledge of the Wraith is inconclusive at best. We know a good deal about their weapons capabilities and we've just started scratching the surface on their biology but beyond that, we know almost nothing. Are you familiar with Sun Tzu's _'The Art of War'_?"

"Which part?"

" _'_ _If ignorant of your enemy, you are certain in every battle to be in peril'_ ," Richard recited, peering over the rims of his glasses to look at her, “I’m paraphrasing of course but the fact remains that in nearly seven years we know next to nothing about the them. Their society and culture is a mystery to us which makes trying to understand them nearly impossible. And what little we do know, we have no frame of reference for. Our own history proves that knowing your enemy is an advantage; it gives you the ability to predict how they will react to certain situations and then plan accordingly. Right now, we don't have that and if we don't gain some insight soon, I don't see us ever gaining the upper hand."

Pausing, he took a deep breath before, on an exhale, he continued. "Which is where you come in."

"You want me to spy on the Wraith?" she asked, frown creasing over her brow.

Woolsey shook his head. "Not spy so much as observe and then draw conclusions based on those observations."

"And how would you like me to accomplish this?" asked Kate, already thinking that in order to do this she’d either have to infiltrate a hive or find a wraith willing to talk to her. Nether prospect was particularly appetizing.

But Woolsey, it would seem, was one step ahead of her. "By putting yourself directly in the path of the wraith we deal with most."

Storm grey eyes flickered with understanding. "Todd."

He nodded. "Yes, Todd. Whether we like it or not Todd has entrenched himself into our operation; manipulating us so that we rely on him far more than any of us would like to admit. And while we'd certainly like him to, he's not going to be going away anytime soon so, why not take advantage? I want you to put yourself in his way and see if you can get him to tell you about the wraith. I'm sure if you present yourself as truly curious he'll feel compelled to enlighten you."

"Oh?" she queried, wondering how Woolsey had drawn this particular conclusion. From what little she'd heard of him so far, he didn't seem the overindulgent type. He’d probably just as soon eat her for asking him stupid questions.

"What little information we have about the wraith beyond their weapons capabilities and technology has all come from Todd," explained Woolsey, "Granted most of it is innocuous and, without any frame of reference, completely meaningless, but that doesn’t preclude the fact that he's at least willing to talk to us given the right circumstance."

"So you want me to create a circumstance wherein he'll be more likely to divulge information?" asked Kate, beginning to comprehend the task to which she was being set. "I suppose I could do that."

"I have every confidence in you," Woolsey replied, standing so that he could meet her at eye level, "Now, I believe you have an appointment in the infirmary with Dr. Keller? I won't keep you then."

Understanding that it was a dismissal, Kate snapped first to attention before turning on her heel and vacating the room. Woolsey watched her go before sinking back down into his chair and lowering his eyes back to Kate's file. After a moment of staring he flipped it closed and pushed it away. Standing, he left his office in search of lunch.

~xXx~

After leaving the Director's office, Kate headed down to the infirmary to meet with Dr. Keller. The blonde woman with the round face and kind eyes smiled at her as she entered and immediately led her into one of the isolation rooms  explaining as she did so that it was for her own privacy. Apparently there were quite a few biologists in Atlantis who would like nothing more than to poke and prod at her until she bled.  Thankful for the consideration, Kate sat on the bed as instructed after stripping down to her underwear, setting her casuals aside. Keller started with a standard physical while asking various medical questions in order to get a more complete profile.

"Squeeze this," Jennifer instructed handing Kate a ball with a line coming out of it that plugged into the tablet the doctor was holding. She complied; the doctor frowned.

"Is that as hard as you can?"

Kate looked at her. "I don't want to break it."

"It's stronger than it looks," Jennifer insisted, "Go ahead."

With a sigh, Kate did as she was told and, as she'd predicted, the ball strained and then let out a muted _crack_. Sheepishly she handed the ruined instrument back to the physician. "Told you."

Jennifer set it on the cart next to the bed. "We have more; Ronon and Todd always break theirs too."

The causal and offhanded mention of the Wraith told Kate that Woolsey hadn't been wrong about how deeply Todd had worked his way into the lives of Atlantis' inhabitants. "Todd," she frowned, feigning ignorance in order to prompt an explanation."That's the Wraith Colonel Sheppard befriended right? The one that helped save Earth."

Jennifer made a face and began tapping on her tablet. "Befriended is a bit of a stretch."

The solider studied her. "He's not friendly?" she asked.

"Not especially," sighed the doctor, "Todd's…hard to explain. You kinda have to meet him."

Aware that there was some urgency in the directive Woolsey had given her, Kate had to admit that the more she heard about him the less she looked forwards to her their first encounter. "Well I'm here to deal with the Wraith so I guess I will eventually."

Jennifer snorted. "Eventually might be sooner than you think." Seeing the look on the woman's face, she then went on to explain, "We sent him a message asking him to come by and take a look at those calculations we got from those Wraith that were trying to create their own ZPM's. Rodney says that the calculations are in another base which is why we've been having so much trouble reading it."

"And, being Wraith, he thinks Todd'll be able to."

The doctor nodded. "That's the idea."

Kate looked at her. "When's he supposed to get here?"

"No idea," Jennifer confessed, "When we send him messages, if he reads them at all, it usually takes him about a day to reply and then another couple before he actually makes the trip. Unless it's something really big, we're not real high on his priority list."

Kate frowned. "Considering that insufficient power generation is the one major drawback to Wraith technology I'd like to think he'd _make_ it a priority."

"Maybe," Jennifer said, "Guess we'll find out." She looked down, reviewing Kate's results while adding notes here and there. After a moment she asked, "Wanna have lunch with me?"

The soldier looked at her, taken aback. "What?"

Jennifer sighed. "I remember what it was like to be new here and how hard it was to carve out a space when you don't already have an in. Atlantis isn't like the SGC, we don't get new people in every other week. We're like a family; close knit and not very welcoming. I just thought -"

"I'd like that," Kate said quickly, before she could change her mind. The doctor seemed to genuinely be trying to include her and the super soldier wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to make a meaningful connection.  She missed Vala. It would be nice to be on friendly terms with someone other than just John.

"Okay then," Jennifer said, trying to fight down the wave of nervousness that suddenly took over her, "Let me go log your results while you get dressed. Meet me back in the main infirmary and we'll go to the mess together."

"'Kay," Kate agreed, reaching for her standard issue tank top while the doctor scurried off towards her office. She pulled the garment over her head and then hopped off the bed and began pulling on her pants. Boots next and then her weapons: two nine millimeters, one on each thigh, a twenty-two in the small of her back and two utility knives one in each boot. When she was ready, she left the isolation room and headed to the meet. The doctor was already there and, together, they left the infirmary.

"So," Jennifer said as headed towards the nearest transporter, "How are you settling in?"

Kate shrugged. "Alight I guess."

"What do you think of Atlantis?"

"That's a loaded question."

"Doesn’t have to be."

Kate sighed. "It's…different," she glanced at the doctor, "I'm sorry, I'm not good at this whole making friends thing. I'm too…guarded."

The doctor frowned. They were in line now, filling their trays. Both choose a salad, some fruit and a bottle of water. With Jennifer in the lead they got out of line and headed towards one of the tables on the veranda. Once seated, Kate didn't immediately start eating. Instead she looked out across the city. Jennifer studied her. "You know," she started, grey eyes turned towards her, "You're a lot like the Colonel. John's about the most guarded person I've ever met, even more then Ronon."

"Really?" Kate frowned, "Colonel Sheppard's less stoic then Ronon, talks more too. I figured it'd be the other way around."

Jennifer shook her head. "You'd think so, but no. John might talk more but he says less."

"I don't understand," that was a lie, Kate understood perfectly.

"I think you do," Jennifer looked at her, "There's this part of you, a part you've kept hidden for so long, you have no idea how to let it out. You have a persona you've built up and that's the part of you that you let people know. The real you however, remains hidden."

Kate peered at her. "I thought you were a doctor not a shrink."

Jennifer smiled ruefully. "Being out here, I'm both," she looked back at Kate, "Ronon doesn't pretend, what you see is who he is. But the colonel, we all know Colonel John Sheppard, but nobody in this city, not even Teyla, knows just John. I have a feeling you're going to be the same."

"And that's a bad thing?"

Jennifer shook her head. "No, but I don't recommend it."

"Why not?"

Jennifer sighed. "Because holding it all in; eventually the dam will break."

"Has Colonel Sheppard's dam broken yet?"

She shook her head. "Not yet but there're a lot of cracks and he's one of those people that'd rather pretend they aren't there then acknowledge them and patch them up. It’s only a matter of time now really."

Kate made a face. "He won't break."

"How do you know?" the doctor asked.

"I just do."

Her answer wasn't very satisfactory but it was full of conviction, conviction that she shouldn't have for somebody that had only met the colonel a week ago. It made Jennifer wonder but before she could wonder aloud, the two of them were descended upon by Major Lorne bearing a manila folder and a tray.

"'Sup doc?" Evan asked teasingly, sliding into the empty seat on Jennifer's left. He turned to the table's other occupant and nodded a greeting, adding "I've got good news for you."

"Oh?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Your new quarters are ready for you," then, "Sorry it took so long."

Kate frowned. "What's wrong with the room I'm in?"

"Nothing," Lorne said, "It's just that about a year ago we started renovating one of the actual apartment buildings nearest the control tower. That way we're all still close by in case of emergency but now we've got more space. Most of us like these better; they've got a great view."

"When can I move?"

"I figured we'd do it after lunch."

"Okay then."

Lorne studied her, glancing sideways at Jennifer while doing so. "She doesn’t talk much does she?"

Jennifer opened her mouth.

Kate crossed her arms. "I talk when I have something to say."

Lorne grinned. "Then we should get along fine," he picked up his fork, "So, how's life at the SGC? How's the ‘List’ doing? Got any new rules?"

Kate smirked. "There might be one or two."

Jennifer frowned and looked carefully between the two of them wondering what they were talking about. "What list?"

Lorne started to explain. "About a year into the program SG-1 started this list of all the things you shouldn't do off-world. It was supposed to be kind of a joke but then it turned into this semi-serious thing. When I was there the List was numbered all the way up to like five hundred something and all new incoming personal got a copy of it."

Jennifer was intrigued. "What kind of things were on it?"

"Lots of things," Lorne said, "Like how the list of known System Lords was not to be referred to as 'Gao'oogle'."

The doctor laughed. "Oh my God, really?" she glanced at Kate for confirmation and, when she nodded, turned back to Evan, "It's a real thing?"

"Yep, scouts honor."

"You were never a scout," Jennifer accused.

"I ate a brownie once."

Jennifer opened her mouth; Kate's expressionless face broke and she laughed. Both Atlantians turned towards her.

"She's human!" Lorne exclaimed, "Quick, call the press!"

Kate glared at him. "I can hurt you," she reminded him.

He snickered. "It'd be worth it," he informed her, "Literally."

"You had a bet riding on this didn't you?"

Lorne nodded. "Yep and since you're being such a good sport about this I'll split my winnings with you."

Kate's expression softened. "What'd you get?"

"A bag of popcorn, two Hershey bars and the next pick at movie night."

"Which is?"

"Tomorrow, nineteen hundred," he looked her over, "I'll share the popcorn and let you pick the movie."

Kate smiled. "Deal."

In her seat, Jennifer watched the two of them and shook her head. Where she'd failed, Evan Lorne had succeeded swimmingly. The super soldier was smiling and the two of them were talking about how much the SGC had changed. The conversation lasted through the rest of lunch and all the way to Kate's new quarters which, like Lorne had said, were much bigger than the guest quarters she'd been in. One whole wall was nothing but windows and it came complete with military requisitioned furniture and a desk. Jennifer and Lorne spent the rest of the afternoon getting Kate settled in and helping her to unpack. By the end of it, after the last box had been emptied, the doctor and Atlantis' XO had a decent understanding of her basic tastes. She’d packed only the essentials, no clothing that wasn’t part of a uniform, and few personal items. They did however; find a garment bag with her blues in them which is when Lorne discovered that her official rank matched his.

He also caught a good look at her ribbon rack and the insignia that identified her branch of service. “You’re a marine,” he noted, weaving through the room full of boxes in order to hang the dress uniform up in the closet. “Ooh rah!”

Kate had grinned. Eventually, they all got hungry and headed back towards the mess. On the way they ran into the colonel.

"Lorne!" Sheppard called out after they’d stepped off the transporter. Then, at seeing the two women, he offered them each a smile. “Dr. Keller. Kate.”

While Jennifer returned the smile with one of her own Kate offered only a professional nod. "Colonel Sheppard."

Her brother fought back a grimace. He was never going to get used to hearing her call him that. "Call me John,” he said, "To be fair. I don't know your last name or even if you have a rank so…"

"She's a major Sir," Lorne supplied, “We were helping her unpack and I saw her blues. She’s also a marine.”

John of course already knew this but he tried to pretend he didn’t. "Well okay then. Still, call me John.”

She nodded. "Yes sir."

He made a face. That wasn't much better but he unfortunately couldn't press the issue without bringing up why hearing her call him by his name, his rank or any other form of formal address just didn't sit so well. "Right, so…how do you like your room?"

"It's…big.”

"It's nice right?" he agreed before the awkwardness of the situation finally caught up to him and he cleared his throat, turning back to Lorne. "We heard back from Todd,” he informed the major, “Said he’ll be here in an hour.”

Surprised, Lorne’s face showed it. "That's soon? Usually he takes longer,” then, for Kate’s benefit, "We're not real high on his priority list."

"Yes,” she said, frowning, “Woolsey was telling me. We were talking about my directive and how he thinks we might get farther if I try something different with Todd.”

“What’s he want you to do?” wondered Jennifer.

“Get close to him,” Kate replied, “See if I can get him to tell me anything useful about the wraith.”

And while Keller and Lorne seemed intrigued by this idea, John’s stomach clenched as a bolt of pure, unadulterated fear shot through it; the thought of his sister anywhere near Atlantis’ wraith ally made him literally sick. Todd was a manipulative, conniving, deceitful bastard and if John could keep his interactions with Kate down to a bare minimum then he would. Fate, unfortunately, seemed to have other plans.

“Woolsey pointed out that we don’t really know a lot about the wraith as a people and that understanding what makes them tick and why they do what they do might come in handy,” Kate was saying, “And, since most wraith would sooner eat us then talk to us -”

“He wants you to get to know Todd,” finished Lorne.

“That’s actually not a bad idea,” Jennifer agreed, “I mean we’ve tried just about everything else.”

Major Lorne looked considerate. “It does mean though, that you’re gonna have to figure out a way to get him to think twice about you. Normally he just dismisses us unless we give him some reason not to.”

Admittedly, she hadn’t considered what it might initially take in order to get her foot in the door. “What would you suggest?” she asked.

“My recommendation?” said Lorne, “Do a threat assessment on him."

Jennifer frowned. “Won’t that just piss him off?”

John had to agree – there was a definite flaw in the major’s logic. But he couldn’t point it out. He couldn’t protest or do anything without betraying himself and his sister. It took every last ounce of willpower he had to keep his mouth shut and just stand there and listen, praying that nobody asked him what he thought about all this. If asked, the colonel wasn’t completely sure he’d be able to hold his tongue.

Meanwhile, the major was nodding. "That's the idea,” he was saying, “It’ll probably annoy the hell out of him but it’ll make him think _‘why now?’_. We haven’t treated him like a full blown threat in years so the fact that we’ve regressed will make him curious. He’ll also wanna know why, out of all the people we could possibly challenge him with, we chose Kate and while he’s trying to figure _that_ out -”

“All his attention will be on me and I’ll have my opening.”

“Exactly,” said the major, “Now we just need to figure out how to get you to him without it looking suspicious.”

“Why not just have her guard him?” Jennifer suggested, “That wouldn’t look strange would it?” both majors – and a very reluctant colonel – shook their heads. “Well, then, there you go.”

"Okay then," Lorne was smiling, "We’ll got eat and then, after Todd gets here, Kate’ll go down to Rodney’s lab to start guard duty. Simple.”

And, just like that, the trap was set. While the Colonel continued to stand there unable to make his feet go anywhere, Lorne, Kate and Jennifer all headed towards the mess hall. Only when the three of them had disappeared did John finally for himself decide to leave. He had a wraith to go meet and he wasn’t looking forwards to it.

In fact he might just shoot him on sight.

~xXx~

While Todd’s dart circled the city, John stood out on the west pier waiting for him, lost in thought. Woolsey’s plan wasn’t horrible much as the Colonel would’ve liked to think it. Everything he’d read in Kate’s file pointed at her being more than capable, but even with that knowledge, John didn’t really want her anywhere near Todd. It was a pointless wish. His sister was there to help deal with the Wraith and like it or not Todd was a permanent fixture in their lives. Actually understanding him might come in handy and – loathe though he was to admit it – Kate was probably the best person to help them do it. The rational side of his brain that recognized this as a sound tactical maneuver was in direct conflict with the rest of him. The protective instincts of a big brother screamed at him to keep Kate safe, protected and away from danger of any sort. It was growing increasingly difficult not to break character and just lock his sister in her room, post a guard outside her door and then throw away the key.

Frustrated, Joh didn’t bother trying to hide his scowl as Todd’s dart finally landed and the canopy retracted revealing Atlantis’ least favorite alien ally. "You're late. You said an hour, it's been nearly two."

Sneering, the wraith climbed down from his craft and came to a stop in front of the human. "You must forgive me," he hissed in mocking sincerity, "A matter arose which required my attention. I sent a message informing you of the delay."

John snorted. "Yeah, we got it. Still," he glared upwards, "It's like you just expect us to hang around all day and wait for you. We've got other things to do, people to see and so on. I know it’s hard for you to hear but our lives don't revolve around _you_."

Sheppard's hostility grated on the already perilously thin set of nerves that Todd set aside for use when he was dealing with the humans of Atlantis. He growled softly. "Be that as it may, I am here now," he crossed his arms and continued to look down, "Shall we?"

Turning on his heel, John lead him from the pier to the familiar destination of Rodney's lab. Upon entering, he found his teammate stooped low over his keyboard, eyes glued to the computer's screen. John came up behind him. "Figured it out yet?"

Rodney jumped, spilling coffee all over his keyboard. "Sheppard!" he screeched, "Don't _do_ that!!"

John shrugged his apology. "Sorry."

The scientist glared at him. "You don't _sound_ sorry," he said waspishly, catching sight of the wraith hovering behind him. "Todd."

"Doctor."

Rodney turned back to Sheppard. "I thought he was supposed to be here an hour ago?”

The colonel snickered, choosing to ignore Todd's agitated snarl, "Yeah I already called him out on that." Then, after peering past Rodney to study the scrolling equations on his computer screen, “So, have you -”

"Obviously not or _he_ …" the scientist waved at Todd, "…wouldn't need to be here."

John held up his hands. "Okay, okay," he retreated, gesturing for Todd to follow him over to one of the other computers, "Here," he said, pointing at the screen, "This is why we called; can you make anything of it?"

Leaning forwards, Todd flicked his eyes over the foreign looking calculations immediately able to discern why they seemed so strange. "These equations are in base twelve."

Rodney stared at him. "What, you can tell just by _looking_!?!"

"I process a higher brain capacity not to mention a superior intelligence that allows me to process information much more quickly," Todd boasted, smirking condescendingly, "It was not overtly difficult. I am quite a bit more intelligent than you."

The dig earned him a glare from the slighted human. "You're _not_ smarter than me! If anything you're just -"

"Colonel Sheppard."

The argument stopped and all three of them turned, espying the woman at the lab’s entrance. John felt his stomach clench; she was here. Not trusting himself to speak he motioned for her to come forwards before turning back to Todd. The wraith was watching him, seemingly apathetic to the proceedings. John cleared his throat.

“This is ah…this is Kate,” he said, “She’s gonna watch you while you and Rodney try and figure this…” he waved distractedly at the computer behind him, “…out.”

“Is she?” Todd hissed, eyes sliding over the female. He had never had a female guard before. “Are you sure she is up to the task?”

John swallowed. “Positive.”

If Sheppard intended to inspire confidence with the conviction he failed. Todd raised an eye-ridge but nonetheless gave his consent. “Very well.”

Still not entirely sure he’d be able to walk away and leave her with him – the fact that they wouldn’t technically be alone gave him absolutely zero comfort – John turned back to Kate. “Like a hawk,” he instructed, turning on his heel to march out of the lab before he could talk himself into staying.

Todd watched him retreat before turning back to the female. She was watching him; intently.

 “Yes?”

Kate blinked but did not divert her eyes. “Nothing,” then, “I’m guarding you remember?”

Her words were teasing, almost playful, while her voice was flat. Todd found the combination curious and cocked his head to one side in order to study her. Most usually the humans set to guard him liked to pretend he wasn’t gifted with speech. That she had answered his question surprised him.

He thought to ask another, something of which he had been curious for quite some time. “What is a hawk?”

“It’s a kind of bird indigenous to Earth,” she explained, corners of her mouth tugging upwards into a kind of indulgent smile. She decided to humor him, “Hawks have excellent eyesight and can spot prey from miles away. To watch someone like a hawk means to watch them very closely.”

“Ah, I see,” he said. Head still cocked to one side, he faced the female, “One would almost think Sheppard does not trust me.”

Kate found no reason to lie to him. “He doesn’t,”

“Humph,” he growled, taking a step towards her. When she made no attempt to retreat he took another step and then another. Now directly in front of her, Todd looked down on her in open curiosity. “Are you not afraid of me?” he wondered, “Do you not find me…frightening?”

Throat constricting almost painfully, Kate forced herself to answer. “I do,” she said, “You're probably the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life."

Having grown used to the declarations of false courage from his human allies, Todd was surprised by her sincerity. He had expected her to deny it, to insist that she had no fear of him. Her admission confused him.

“You find me frightening?” he asked again, golden eyes watching carefully as she nodded. And yet despite her claim, Todd noted no reflections of terror within her gaze. Her eyes hid it from him and in that one moment, he thought her very brave; foolish, but brave. He let out a low hiss. “Tell me, little female, what is it about me that you find so terrible? Is it my appearance or perhaps it is the relation of my kind to yours? Surely that must inspire your fear.”

Kate didn’t move – she couldn’t’ve even if she’d wanted to. Todd was trying his level best to intimidate her and damn it all to hell, it was working. She wasn’t going to let it show though. If she wanted him to look at her differently then she couldn’t let him see how scared she was. She had her orders: _‘Put yourself in his way,’_ Woolsey had said. Well, she was standing two feet in front of him, she was as in his way as she was going to get.

“It’s not that,” she admitted slowly.

“Then?” prompted Todd, leaning forwards.

Warning bells went off in Kate’s head, instincts urging her to run. She ignored them knowing that if she wanted to complete her mission then she has to stay put. Courage wasn’t the absence of fear but rather the mastery of it. Giving in meant conceding that he was stronger, better and more abled. He already had that power over the rest of Atlantis; she wouldn’t let him have it over her too.

“It’s your aura,” she said eventually, forcing herself to meet his eyes, watching them as they widened, “Your presence. Like violence incarnate; you’re vehemence made flesh.”

Head rearing back in surprise, Todd blinked. Then, furthering his surprise, the female began to circle him; stalking about him as though she were the predator and not he. It unnerved him immensely and when she stopped, he turned to face her. Now regarding her in profile, Todd found the woman to be lost in thought; hardly aware. She began speaking and, once more, he found himself caught by her observations.

"You're dangerous; so used to blood and death that it clings to you, following like a shadow wherever you go. You wear it proudly, like armor; it protects you and keeps you alive. When you fight you do it with everything you have even when you’re tired, even when you’re hurt, because you’ve been fighting so long you don't know how to stop…"

Coming back to herself, Kate’s eyes flashed up to meet Todd’s only to find the wraith staring at her as though unable to make out whether or not she’d been talking about him or someone else. Upon realizing this she favored him with a rueful smile. "Something I've learned," she explained, gazing up at him from beneath dark lashes, "Those who deal in death, who're defined by it: we’re always able to recognize ourselves in others."

Todd drew a sharp breath. “Who are you?” he asked, carefully regarding her. “You are no ordinary sentinel posted to keep watch over me. Why have you been brought here?”

Her answer was evasive. “For now I’m just a guard.”

“And in the future?” he queried.

“That depends on you.”

Despite the coolness of her reply Todd was aware enough to recognize it as a warning. At first the thought angered him – _how dare the humans attempt to challenge him_ – but then he stopped to consider what it meant. Todd had long accepted his need for the humans of Atlantis but thus far in their relationship had had no reason to concede his superiority over them. He knew that they resented him for it, but he also knew that they were too afraid to risk his displeasure and thus his support to bother challenging him over it. It would seem, however, that they had grown tired of being treated as inferior and had chosen a champion. And while normally Todd would have had nothing to fear from a human challenger, he was not so sure that was so with this female.

To test her, Todd stepped back and gestured at the previously forgotten terminal and the equations still displayed on it. In truth he was well versed in the operation of this particular machine but for the moment was prepared to pretend otherwise. There was a reason this female had been brought to him and Todd needed to know if she truly was a challenger before he could proceed further. If she was, then he would have to come up with a way to neutralize her, if not – there was no denying that she intrigued him. Perhaps he could think of a way to make a further study of her.

"I believe that I can convert this into the base you are most familiar with,” he spoke, hoping that Dr. McKay could not hear him. The human scientist would know he was lying and would, most likely, call him on it. For his tactic to work the female must remain oblivious. “If I give you instructions, could you write the program for the conversion?"

And although Kate knew he was lying, she nodded and sat down in front of the computer. Fingers hovering over the keyboard, she glanced over her shoulder at him noting the distance between them. She was loath to call him closer but knew that that was the entire point of this exercise. He was testing her, trying to figure out if she was a threat and so she’d hate to disappoint him.

"Bit hard to give instructions from way over there," her voice rang, “You’re gonna have to come a little closer. I promise I don’t bite.”

Having previously stood in close proximity Todd nonetheless found novelty in the invitation and in the words that had accompanied it. The levity in her tone sparked his curiosity. He wondered at it as he crept closer, coming to a stop only when he found himself directly behind her, the thick leather of his battle-coat pressing gently against her back.

Kate fought to keep her heart from racing. "You're not gonna to eat me are you?" she asked.

The wraith snorted, amusement tugging at the corners of his mouth. "No."

“Good. Now, what do I do? ”she asked, fighting the shiver that threatened to run down her spine. She could feel him breathing on the back of her neck and try though she might, she could not help the responses she was having. She focused instead on the task at hand. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and realized, suddenly, that Todd had moved. His left hand was now braced on the desk besides the keyboard, boxing her in on three sides.

Kate swallowed hard and concentrated on her breathing.

Above her Todd's sensory pits flared, close enough now to be able to taste the air that surrounded her. It was thick with fear intermixed with a steady flow of determination heightened by the desire to overcome; to prevail. The sweet subtleties of her latent terror interlaced with the strength of her defiance and resolve was intoxicating. He needed more, craved it even, and in an effort to relieve himself of his desire Todd lowered his head, dropping it until his mouth hovered just outside the shell of her ear. Softly he began whispering instructions to her, his breathing quickening almost to a pant.

Behind them, less than ten feet away, Rodney McKay stood stock still at his own workstation; eyes wide and mouth agape. He’d been watching them since the beginning and, with every quip exchanged, had grown more and more worried. Now, he was in a state of near panic. They were _way_ too close to each other and, truly terrified, Rodney reached desperately for his radio.

_"Sheppard!"_

The radio crackled to life in his ear. "Yes Rodney?

Near frantic, he asked, "How fast can you get back to my lab?"

There wasn’t an immediate response. "Why?"

"Just do it!" he begged.

An exasperated sigh was Sheppard’s only reply before the line went dead. Worriedly, Rodney returned to watching the woman and the Wraith who were now, if possible, even closer. Todd was practically _on top_ of her and for the life of him the scientist couldn’t fathom _why_ Kate hadn’t told him to back off. If Todd had been that close to him he would’ve run out of the lab screaming.

“What McKay?”

Turning, Rodney found both John and Lorne in the doorway. Wide eyed and worried he pointed wordlessly to the other side of his lab. Following his finger, both soldiers felt their hearts stop at the sight that met them.

"What the -" Lorne breathed, face draining of color.

John had to clench his teeth to keep from screaming. His sister, his _baby_ sister, was on the other side of the room with Todd the fucking Wraith pressed up against her back, whispering in her ear. He had to physically stop himself from reaching for his gun. Instead he cleared his throat.

Nothing happened.

"Hey Todd,” still nothing, he was losing points for this. “TODD!!”

Across the room the wraith stiffened, annoyed by the aggression in Sheppard’s tone. “Is something the matter Colonel?” he asked.

Lorne growled. “Back up,” he ordered, “Now!”

Trying - and failing - to look innocent, he took a step back - hands held out and away from his sides. A cursory glance through their minds provided Todd with the reason for their hostility. Both males were protective of the female and saw him as a threat. An almost feral grin spread across his face at the thought.

Lorne gulped. "Ah…"

"Personal space," growled the colonel, "Did you forget? We talked about this."

"It is unfortunate but I forget none of what you say," Todd hissed delving, on impulse, into the female’s mind much as he had done the males. "Katherine did not seem to mind."

John’s eyebrows threatened to disappear into his hairline while Lorne echoed in confusion, "Katherine?"

Kate, furious, knew exactly what he’d done. "You were in my head!" she accused, rising angrily to her feet, "You _bastar_ -"

"My apologies," he interrupted, although, truly, he felt there was little to regret. He had done it both because he knew it would agitate Sheppard and because the taste of her defiance still lingered in his senses emboldening him to make the attempt. It had taken little effort to extend his mind into hers, skimming through the topmost layers of her thoughts undetected until he had found the name lurking like a shadow in a corner. It was her true name; not the shorter sobriquet by which she was most well-known. Knowing it gave him power; taking it had given him more.

Crossing his arms, John scowled darkly. “What have we told you about reading our minds?”

Todd rolled his shoulders flippantly, unconcerned for the human's self-righteous anger. “It is not as though I’ve stolen anything of value from her; no hidden desires or precious secrets,” he turned, eyes seeking the female who was now glaring at him openly. The heat of them burned and, as if to justify himself, he added softly, “It is only a name.”

“It’s _my_ name,” Kate snarled, not believing for a second that he was really sorry, “Mine to give, not yours to fucking take!!”

Her fierceness startled him but still did not move him to remorse. It still pleased him to know that he had taken something from her that was hers; that so very few knew. It gave him power over her, something he desperately wanted since her assessment of him had stripped him bare. Defiantly he stared back at her refusing to yield. “You humans give your names so freely I wonder at your reason for being upset.”

Kate's temper was close to boiling. It might not have been a big deal to somebody else but to her – to _any_ of the NCs – names were precious; reminders of a humanity that had been stolen. The soldiers of the NC26 project guarded their names more jealously then most women guarded their virtue which is why the accusation she next hurled at the wraith was all the more poignant. "Invading someone's mind without permission is just another form of rape and personally, I’d rather have you hold me down. At least then I’d stand a chance of defending myself!!”

Stricken, Todd recoiled as though slapped. He abhorred rape but had never considered the taking of thoughts to be the same as the taking of a body. "I -"

But Kate wasn’t done. “I’ve had enough things taken from me in the past seven years, my mind is not a fucking playground for you – or anyone else – to go tramping around in. If I catch you in my head again I…will… _end_ …you!!”

Todd was at a loss, unable to repair his damage. "I…did not – It is only a name. It is customary for humans to give and receive them easily. I do not understand -"

"What's your name then?" she demanded.

The wraith blinked at her. "I beg your pardon?"

Crossing her arms, Kate narrowed her eyes upwards. "The Wraith must have names or some equivalent thereof. I want to know yours. It’s only fair."

Todd didn’t agree. “There are precious few wraith worthy enough to know my name, no human will ever gain such an hon -”

"Then what in your _deluded_ little mind makes you think you can just go around and -”

"Um…guys?"

The argument stopped, grinding to a halt as the four of them looked at Rodney who, up until right then, everyone had completely forgotten about. "Yes, what?" John demanded, irritated. He had _so_ been enjoying watching Todd get his ass handed to him.

With a squeak the scientist pointed at his computer screen. "I ah…found something embedded in the file."

"What?" asked Lorne, shuffling nervously as the unresolved tension between Todd and Kate began to slowly dissipate, “What’d you find?”

"A gate address," Rodney said, bringing up his find on one of the larger screens so that everyone could see it. “There’s no way to be sure but I think this might be the location where they got the original file.”

John's eyes lit up. "You found the source?"

The Canadian nodded.

Todd frowned. "I had thought you had obtained these from a Wraith facility," he looked to Sheppard, "That address is a Lantean planet.”

“Yeah well, that makes sense since these are Ancient equations,” Rodney countered. “My guess, the Wraith somehow stumbled upon them and are trying to do the same thing we are; convert them into standard base so that they’re easier to read.”

Todd growled. “And you have deduced this how?” he asked.

“Because I’ve seen these before,” Rodney said, “A couple of years ago when I was hit with a machine intended to help the Ancients achieve ascension. I found a log in one of Atlantis’ databanks with a couple of these equations. These…” he pointed at the screen, “…are the calculations for making ZedPM’s.”

Yellow eyes went wide with surprise. “Are you certain?”

The scientist nodded.

"We should go check it out,” said Kate, “The address I mean. If that’s where the wraith got this from then there might be something else there.”

"Something like a ZPM factory?" asked Lorne optimistically, turning towards Sheppard, "I'd say that’s worth a look.”

Nodding, the colonel told Rodney to keep working while giving his sister the signal to go suit up. As she backed out of the lab John turned back to Lorne. “Get your gear,” he instructed the major, “And go find Teyla. I'll go run this by Woolsey to make it official. Todd – ” the wraith raised a brow-ridge, “ – You’re with me. Everybody be ready and in the gate-room in twenty minutes.”

Lorne left while Todd took to eyeing Sheppard speculatively. “I being included in this…undertaking?” the human nodded, “How magnanimous of you.”

The colonel shrugged. Honestly, after finding the wraith less than an inch away from his baby sister, practically breathing down her neck, he’d love nothing more than to kick Todd out on his ass and tell him to go fuck himself. Unfortunately that wasn’t an option. Before Rodney’s panic had called him back he’d been talking to Woolsey and the city’s director had all but ordered him to keep Todd close so that Kate had time to gain a foothold. Throwing him out of the city would not only be counterproductive it’d be defying orders. With this in mind, John motioned for the wraith to follow him as he made his way towards the gateroom where he had him wait while he went and had another chat with Woolsey.

This left Todd standing alone, relatively unguarded, in front of the stargate pondering over the implications. There were plenty of humans about to be sure but none who were directly responsible for watching him.  Could take this as a sign of trust from Sheppard or if there simply was no one available to spare as a guard? The female from before had disappeared and he found himself wondering if she was to return when he was suddenly joined by both Major Lorne and Teyla. The colonel’s discussion with Atlantis’ leader carried on for several more minutes before he too joined them. The major had arrived carrying an extra set of equipment and, as Sheppard came down the stairs, he handed it to him.

While the human readied himself, Todd decided to assuage his curiosity. “Will Katherine be joining us?”

John frowned at the wraith’s use of Kate’s full name but didn’t say anything.

Lorne answered for him. “She’ll be here,” he said, holding the colonel’s P-90 and radio while Sheppard zipped up his tack vest. “I can’t imagine its easy getting that armor on and off.”

“It did look to be rather complicated,” Teyla agreed, “Not to mention her various weapons. She is…rather well armed.”

The major snorted. “Yeah, girl comes with her own armory. I swear to God I’ve no idea where she keeps them all.”

“That suit of her’s probably comes with storage,” John speculated, taking his gun from Lorne and clipping it to his vest, “Can you imagine her going through an airport?”

While the major and even Teyla shook their heads at Sheppard’s nonsensical affirmation, an echo of footfalls alerted Todd to another’s approach. The steps were heavy, full of purpose, and he turned expecting to see the runner or perhaps another of Sheppard’s men. He was unprepared for the sight that greeted him: the female from the laboratory, Katherine, dressed as though ready for war.

 

He could not help but feel his body grow still, eyes widening as they took in her appearance. Armor adorned her chest, shoulders and abdomen; she wore guards on her arms, hips, thighs and shins. A belt of strange weapons was slung low about her hips while her gait revealed that yet more had been hidden about her person. Her face was a mask of defiance, cold and cruel; eyes set with dangerous intent. Violence in female form; Todd looked at her and saw himself staring back. The thought came, unbidden, in that moment that while he normally found nothing admirable about human females, it would seem this one was an exception.

His throat seized as the stirrings of attraction began to flutter at his breast. He swallowed, hard, and briefly wondered if this was the reason Sheppard had chosen her to challenge him. Had the human picked her with the hope that he would find her desirable enough to let her become a distraction? _‘It is doubtful,’_ Todd’s logic reassured him _, ‘You have been careful. As of yet, the humans are unaware of the compatibility between our races. Whatever reason they had for choosing her, it was not this. It is an unfortunate coincidence only. Not meant to…’_

“Hey Todd!”

Abruptly, the wraith was pulled from his thoughts. He looked to Sheppard, “Yes?”

John eyed him wondering as he did what the alien could’ve possibly been thinking about so intently and whether or not whatever it’d been was bad for them. “You good to go?”

Todd inclined his head. “By your leave, Sheppard,” he grossed sardonically, “This is, as you humans say, your party.”

The colonel was not amused. “Not funny,” he said tersely before giving the signal to dial the gate to the control room. Once the Stargate was activated, he turned towards the event horizon and motioned for the others to follow before stepping through. Immediately John was met with freezing rain, loud, boisterous thunder and near total darkness made all the more pronounced as the gate closed behind them.

"We should've sent a MALPH, Sir," Lorne shouted over the downpour, "Or called ahead to check the weather."

John scowled and shook his head trying in vain to shake the hair out of his eyes. "Well it's too late now," he yelled, a clap of thunder punctuating his sentence, "We’re here, we're already wet; might as well keep going."

"I cannot see," Teyla confessed, shining the flashlight mounted on her P-90 in every direction, "How are we to find our way?"

"We follow him," Sheppard said, pointing at a wet, bedraggled looking Todd who, in the colonel's opinion, looked about as sorry as they'd ever seen him, "You can see in the dark right?"

"I can," he replied, peering into the darkness that surrounded them; pressing in on them from all sides, "This way."

The procession began as the humans put their faith in Todd to not lead them astray. They trudged in silence punctuated only by their collective grunts and groans as they fought their way uphill. Not by design, Todd had pulled ahead and was, at present, surveying which route to take when he took a bad step and felt himself stumble. He growled thinking of the mockery Sheppard would no doubt make of his misfortune when, suddenly, his descent was halted. He felt a pressure on his upper arm, a hand, and turning, found himself facing the female.

She said nothing. She simply pulled him up and then let go, stepping back while signaling that he was to lead. He did so and felt her fall into step beside him. "You have strength," he remarked knowing that had Teyla tried to aid him both she and he would have ended up in the mud.

Kate nodded. "I was made that way."

"Made?"

Another nod. "Engineered," she glanced sideways at him through a sheet of rain, "My genetic makeup's been tinkered with, enhanced. I'm stronger, faster, more agile and can heal much more quickly than a normal human," a rueful smile came over her face, "I'm special."

"You have been altered," Todd said, unbidden empathy suddenly stirring within him. It was unwise, this feeling, but he could not take it back. He glanced sideways at her, "Did you wish for the changes or were they applied to you without your consent?"

"I was willing, sorta," she sighed, "I was recruited out of basic and offered the chance to be a part of an elite fighting force. A new type of soldier they said – they neglected to mention the part about being injected with a serum that turned us all into human weapons. If I could go back and opt out I would. What I got is not what I signed up for."

Yellow eyes regarded her. "You regret having your abilities?"

Kate shrugged. "Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I'm here, I wouldn't be if I hadn't been a part of the program but at the same time nearly everyone in Atlantis is either fearful or resentful because –  depending on who you ask – I'm either less human or more than. It's all a bit annoying really."

"I can imagine."

"I'm sure you can."

They stopped, having come to the top of a hill, and studied one another. A shout from behind them had them both looking down as Sheppard, Lorne and Teyla struggled to join them. Once they had, John looked around at everyone panting. "This…" he wheezed, "Is getting us…nowhere fast. We need a new plan."

Everyone turned to Todd whose eyes, in the dark, glowed electric blue. "There is an outcropping of rocks, the entrance to a cave I think, at the bottom of this incline," he told his human companions. "Should we achieve it, we can wait out this storm and then decide how we wish to proceed."

There was no reply from the humans only a general kind of unspoken acceptance as the five of them trooped on. Getting down the hill was a trying affair but was accomplished without incurring any injuries and, once they reached the cave, all were glad to be out of the torrential downpour. Rivets of water cascaded from them in a seemingly endless flow as the group set about drying themselves. Sheppard and Lorne were able to salvage enough supplies between their two packs to build a fire and that helped but it was not nearly enough. Miserably John, Lorne and Teyla huddled together trying to get warm while Kate stood a way’s away, back to them, studying her target.

Rather than join the others by the fire, Todd had elected to remain by the cave’s entrance. He was perched on a rock, one foot on the ground and the other drawn up so he that he could rest his arm across his knee. He was facing away from her, staring out into the rain, giving Kate the opportunity to study him. He looked pensive and she almost hated to interrupt whatever he might be thinking about but, she had a job to do. She’d gotten his attention now she needed to hold it. She took a deep breath and then stepped towards him.   

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Lost in contemplation, the wraith had not heard her approach. Startled, he turned towards her; yellow eyes narrowed in silent query to the question posted. "A what?"

His confusion with Earth idioms made Kate snicker. Briefly she wondered how often Todd was confused by something they said but decided not to say anything. Asking for clarification somehow made him seem less intimidating and more personable – probably why he didn’t do it often.  

"It's a coin,” she explained, looking down at him. From this position his eyes were about level with her chin. "‘ _A penny for your thoughts’_ is a way of asking someone what they’re thinking about."

"Ahhh."

Kate hummed, taking a seat next to him. An involuntary shiver ran down her spine; a combination of being wet, cold and in such close proximity to someone she wasn’t entirely sure wouldn’t eat her if he suddenly felt like it. She hoped he wouldn't notice.

He did, of course he did, but Todd found no purpose in commenting on it. Instead, he let his eyes slid over her, studying her in profile. “What use would I have for such an item?”

Katherine shook her head. "The actual penny is never given or received. It's an expression," her gaze caught his, "I'm sure the wraith have them."

"Some, not many," Todd blinked, "We are a literal race. We do not make use of the metaphors and exaggerations you humans so enjoy infusing in your speech."

"You also sound like you swallowed a damned thesaurus," Kate muttered, leaving her seat beside him to go stand before the curtain of rain. Every now and then a flash of lightening would streak the sky and illuminate the landscape followed by the clap and boom of thunder. She smiled, finding comfort in the storm.

In the dim light provided by the distant fire, Todd watched her. He had been surprised when she approached him, more surprised when she had sat down. Todd did not like water and the wraith in general were not overly fond of cold. Katherine sitting next to him has provided a small measure of warmth and comfort, her moving away stripped him of this. He did not know why but he wanted it back so, after a moment, he followed her. He half expected her to back away. Showing courage in a familiar setting was one thing, showing that same courage in an unfamiliar location was quite another. As he approached, Katherine gave no outward sign that she was at all disturbed. A novelty – even his fellow wraith were oft intimidated by him.

“You do not fear me.”

The air between them became charged, Kate's back stiffened automatically. “I thought I told you I do,” she reminded him.

Todd shook his head. “You are afraid of me – afraid of what I am capable, of what I may do – but you do not fear _me_.”

Kate glanced at him. “There’s a difference?”

“Yessss…”

An overwhelming majority of the people out there couldn’t make the distinction; it figured Todd’d be one of the few exceptions. “ _Should_ I fear of you?” she asked.

He cocked his head to one side and studied her. "Most humans would."

"I'm not most humans."

He took a step towards her. "Yes I am beginning to see that."

Kate inhaled sharply at how close he was now standing. Another inch and they’d be touching. "Are you?"

"I am," he murmured, struck suddenly by an almost insatiable desire to know what she was thinking. It bit at him, aching like a hunger. On impulse he reached out, curling the fingers of his feeding had beneath her chin, tilting it upwards until their eyes met. Touch strengthened a wraith’s ability to sense thoughts and emotions – through this contact, Todd hoped to have to have his longing satisfied.

It was.

Katherine was afraid, so very afraid, and yet she did not flee. She stood firm; resolute and unyielding. Orbs of grey held his with a determination that was as exhilarating in this incarnation as it had been in the last. Heady with the feel of it, Todd felt his pulse quicken, thrumming wildly in his veins; a predator’s instinct awakened.  Lightening streaked across the sky outside, illuminating the two of them as they stood, like statues, frozen together in time.

The low rumble of thunder was enough to snap them both out of their trance. Todd dropped his hand, pulling back a single step while Kate fought to steady her pounding heart. In an effort to regain her calm, she turned her back to him; gaze reverting to the downpour. Another flash of lightening lit up the sky, temporarily illuminating the landscape beyond the cave. Heartbeat slowly returning to normal, Kate squinted through the rain – attempting to see beyond it. A sudden glint caught her attention and, curious, she inched forwards until she stood just inside the cave’s cover of protection.

“What do you see?” asked Todd, coming up behind her.

Kate repressed a shiver. “I thought I saw something.”

The wraith’s keen eyes peered into the darkness, extra senses pressing outwards. Another flash of light lit the sky causing Todd to stiffen. “There is something out there,” he spoke softly to her, unaware yet if the movement he saw belonged to an enemy or so to something benign. He growled, cursing the water that fell without mercy from the sky. “It is impossible to tell, I cannot see more than three meters beyond us.”

"We can fix that," Kate said, turning from to call back into the cave, “Hey Colonel!”

Her brother had been covertly watching them ever since Kate’d wondered away from the camp fire but, when Todd had touched her – he’d forced himself to look away. Now he looked back. “What’s up?” The expression on her face, the way she was standing and the wraith still looking out into the rain told him something was up. He stood, "You see something?"

"Maybe," she said, "It’s hard to tell. Anybody got a flare?"

Reaching into his pack, Lorne tossed her one. "Here.”

Catching it smoothly with her left hand, Kate stepped out into the rain, aimed high and fired. As the flare climbed, the others came to crowd at the entrance until, at its peak, the flare ignited bathing the entire area in red light. Kate felt her eyes widen. A sea of bug-like creatures yawned out before them, covering the landscape with their metal bodies as they soldiered on, tinkering as they marched.

“Well that’s not good,” said Lorne, eyes glinting in recognition. He’d served at the SGC; he knew _exactly_ what those things were – bad fucking news. “Not good at all.”

John frowned. “They look like bugs,” he said, “Weird, metal bugs.”

“They’re replicators,” Kate informed him, “We need to -”

An inhuman screech suddenly pierced the night setting all everyone’s teeth on edge. Then a clattering began, rising up from the swarm which had abruptly changed direction and was headed straight for them.

“Oh crap!” cried Lorne, “Kate, shoot!”

Following the instruction, Kate took aim and fired a steady stream of bullets into the approaching horde. When shot, the spiders exploded sending sprays of replicator blocks flying every which way.

"Fuck, replicators!" Sheppard hollered needing no further proof of their identity. Firing his own shot off, he took off at a dead sprint towards the back of the cave hoping beyond hope that there was another way out of this thing. The tinkering sounds of the metal insects grew to a roar as the five of them stumbled onwards until they'd reached the back of the cave and a dead end.

"Now what?!" Lorne cried over the din, "There's no way we can shoot our way past all those -"

Todd's call broke through their panic. "Sheppard."

Approaching him, John squinted through the darkness to see what was so interesting. His eyes widened; Todd was standing in front of a large, round hatch affixed to the very back of the cave. "It's a door."

“Similar in design to those in the lower levels of Atlantis," the wraith observed.

John frowned. "There's no latch."

"That does not bode well for us," Teyla said, raising her voice to combat the growing echo of their metallic pursuers.

In desperation John began to run his hands over the surface of the door looking for some alternate way of opening it. He came up blank. "There's got to be -"

"Here!" Kate called. Instantly her brother was at her back looking over her shoulder at what she'd found. It was a key pad, round, with thirty-six buttons. Above it were eight slots.

"Damn," he swore, "It's a fucking combination lock."

"Why is the key pad round?" Lorne asked, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet as the sounds of the replicators drew nearer.

Kate had a spark of inspiration. "Because the code’s a gate address."

"That doesn’t help," John lamented, quickly doing the math in his head, "Thirty-six symbols and eight slots, that's -"

Kate beat him to it. "One trillion, two hundred and twenty billion, ninety-six million, nine hundred and eight thousand, eight hundred possible combinations.”

John was impressed. Lorne stared.

"How the hell did you -"

"COLONEL!" Teyla cried, looking frantically over her shoulder as she came to join them, "We are out of time -"

Thinking fast Kate tried the first thing that came to mind. Fingers flying, she sent out a silent prayer that it worked. It did. Punching in the last symbol the door gave out a hiss, releasing stale air, and then swung open.

“ _GO!_ ” John yelled as a sizable wave of replicators spilled into the alcove and he and Lorne opened fire. "Everybody in, go, NOW!"

Teyla darted through the door first, then Todd, then Kate and, finally, he and Lorne. As the repli-bugs closed in, John threw his weight at the door. It slammed shut with a loud bang and a moment later it latched. Looking around they found themselves in the deserted corridor of an obviously Ancient facility.

"Now what?" Lorne asked.

"We go forwards," the colonel replied, pointing his P-90 down a dim hallways that veered off to their left, "And pray we find a way out of this place."

"That is not a very reassuring plan," Todd commented.

Sheppard glared at him. "Yeah well, it's the only one we've got so shut-up and walk."

With a growl, Todd did as he was told. Katherine fell into step beside him and for several minutes they traveled in silence tense and on alert, ready in case something were to jump out at them. When it became apparent that nothing sinister was lurking around the nearest corner however; they began to relax.

Lorne was the first to speak. “That was some trick you pulled,” he said, glancing towards the female solider, “With the door.”

Teyla agreed. “Yes,” she said, “How did you manage to choose the correct code on the first try?”

Eyes darting to and fro, delving deep into the shadows around them, Kate explained. “The code was an eight digit gate address; I picked the one the wraith would’ve been least likely to know.”

“Earth,” Sheppard guessed.

“No, not Earth,” Kate replied.

He frowned. “Then what -”

“Celestis,” then, because everyone else looked confused, “You know that the Ancients came to the Milky-Way from another galaxy right? Well Celestis is their homeworld, in the Ori galaxy; it’s where the Ancients came from.”

Teyla looked at her. “You know the address of the planet where the Ancestors originated from?”

Kate nodded. “I know a lot about the Ancients.”

“Do you?” Todd asked, adding his voice to the conversation, “Such as?”

The female scowled. “Well, I know they like leaving doomsday devices laying around for people to find several centuries later and never put warning labels on anything. You know, turn this thing on and you’ll get stuck in a time loop or flip this switch and you’ll blow up a sun. For a race that’s supposed to be brilliant the whole lot of them are incredibly stupid.”

“Sounds to me like you don't like them," observed John dryly and with a smirk.

Kate made a face, hesitating. “Am I going to offend anybody if I answer honestly?”

Lorne shook his head. "Nope," he assured her. "Believe me; we all got over our awe of the Ancients a while ago. Pretty much everyone in Atlantis has almost died at least once because of something they've left behind. Trust me, we get it.”

Kate sighed in relief. She'd been worried that, living in a city literally built _by_ the Ancients, everyone stationed here would be in as much if not more awe of the advanced race then the people back at the SGC. Dr. Jackson, for example, regularly pitched a fit every time somebody said something that insulted them. Knowing that the people of Atlantis shared her views, or at least wouldn’t judge her for them, made her feel much more at ease.

Todd, meanwhile, was surprised. “I was not aware that your opinion of the Lanteans was so negative,” he glanced at Sheppard, “As custodians of their city I had thought you might view them in a more…positive light.”

“You’re kidding right?” John asked, looking aside at Todd as they continued down the corridor, “You remember the Replicators, and that damned Attero thingy? Not to mention that weapons platform that Rodney found. That certainly didn’t end well. It went boom and blew up an entire solar system!”

The wraith’s eyes went wide. “An entire system of planets was destroyed because of -”

“Some machine the Ancient’s left behind that _clearly_ still had a couple of bugs to work out,” John exclaimed, “And they just left it there! Didn’t tear it down, didn’t take it apart and didn’t leave a note explaining what would happen if someone were to stumble upon it and turn it on.”

Todd hissed. “Yes, I can see why that experience might color your view of -”

“Everybody shhhh!”

The others and Todd fell silent at Katherine’s demand. Quietly John moved to her side.

“What is it?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Squinting, Kate peered into the oppressing darkness. “I thought I heard -”

“Down!” Lorne yelled as, through the gloom, the red glow of an energy weapon discharging flared and then sped towards them followed by three more successive shots. In unison the five of them ducked down, pressing their bodies closer to the walls of the corridor. The energy shots missed them and stuck where Todd, John and Kate had been standing not seconds before. A stomping sound could be heard from the direction the shots had come from and, within moments, three figures immerged from the darkness.

John swore loudly. “Fuck, not these guys again!” he raised his gun, “Return fire, fire at will!” then, over the sound of raining bullets, “RUN!”

Nobody had to be told twice and the group beat a hasty retreat back the way they’d came. They didn’t get very far though, not a minute later they were forced to stop when another of their attackers suddenly appeared in front of them through a door in an adjoining hallway. The five of them lurched to a stop; they were trapped.

“Now what?” Lorne asked, glancing towards his commanding officer, “If I remember correctly these things don’t die!”

“You have encountered them before?” Todd asked, eyes darting wildly about looking for any possibility of escape as he and his companions were forced backwards into a tight cluster.

“Yeah,” Sheppard answered.

“And how did that end?”

“Not well.”

Todd hissed and opened his mouth to suggest they try negotiating only to shut it again when Teyla, who had been watching their retreat, let out a worried cry.

“John!”

Sheppard spun and watched as the end of the corridor was filled with the other three armored Asgard. “Shit.”

The middle one of the three took a step forwards and pointed at Todd. “Kill the Wraith.”

As the creature took its aim Kate moved forwards – blocking Atlantis’ ally with her body. A shot rang out, John yelled, and then Kate was seeing stars. Luckily her suit absorbed most of the blast so, gritting her teeth against the residual pain, she took advantage of the temporary bedlam to return fire. Three successive shots later and the one that had fired on her was on its knees. Another shot and it collapsed. Then, before any more shots could be fired, the other Asgard, the one blocking their retreat, called out.

“Stop!”

The humans and wraith froze whilst their other attackers lowered their weapons. The one that had spoken stepped forwards and stopped in front of Kate. It studied her, looking her once up and then down.

“I did not expect to find you here,” it said.

John blinked and rounded on his sister. “It knows you?” then, turning back to it, “You know her?”

It nodded. “I have had the fortunate pleasure of meeting her once before,” blank black eyes set in a metal head turned towards her and nodded, “It is good to see you again, Katherine Sheppard.”

John sucked in a surprised gasp of breath while Kate’s eyes lightened to silver in rage. “How the _fuck_ do you know that name!?!” she demanded.

The metal encased Asgard chuckled, the sound coming out was both warped and distorted. “I am not surprised that you do not recognize me,” it said, cocking its head to once side, “Perhaps that it best. You did promise that you would…kick my little grey ass if ever you were to see me again.”

And then, like the knell of a funeral bell, Kate knew exactly who was standing in front of her. “Loki.”

Lorne frowned. “Loki? You mean the rogue Asgard that abducted General O’Neil and cloned him?” he looked at her, “That Loki?”

Kate snarled. “Yes, that Loki.”

“I thought the Asgard High Council had him on a leash!?!”

“Yeah well when they all kicked the bucket Loki here went back to his old tricks,” Kate spat, crossing her arms as she shot the rogue Asgard a dark, deadly glare, “Turns out I don’t clone well.”

Growing more confused by the minute about how this thing new his sister's full name and who, exactly, he even was, John found himself parroting her, “Clone?” he turned to Loki, “You tried to clone her? Why?”

The Asgard looked at him. “Katherine possesses a very similar biology with the first evolution of your race. Indeed the tests that I was able to run on the few uncorrupted portions of her DNA indicate that she is a descendant of the Alterans rather than a member of a second evolution. Unfortunately for any further experimentation however, Katherine’s altered genetic makeup made it impossible for me to duplicate her and I was forced to release her without obtaining from her what I wanted.”

Lorne looked about as bewildered as Sheppard felt. “What the hell _does_ that mean!?”

“It means he thinks one of my ancestors is an Ancient; like a great-great-great-great-great-grandfather or something,” explained Kate who glanced at Lorne and her brother briefly before turning back to Loki, “It also means that the NC26 serum screwed with my genetics just enough to make me un-clone-able. He had to let me go.”

It was unfathomable to think that somebody in a metal suit could manage to look grim but, somehow, Loki managed it. “Unfortunately.”

“For _you_ maybe,” John said, tossing a glance towards his sister, “For her I’d call that a lucky break.”

Kate gave him a rueful smile. “Thanks Colonel.”

“You’re welcome.”

Loki’s head jerked, eyes landing on the dark haired male standing beside the female. “Colonel?” he repeated, metal head cocking to one side as he studied him. He had come to this galaxy in the hopes of perhaps meeting this very male. Katherine’s DNA was corrupted and unusable; perhaps with her brother’s he would have better luck. “You are Colonel John Sheppard?”

John grinned cockily. “Heard of me have you?”

“Indeed,” Loki nodded, “You are in Katherine's medical files.”

That _so_ wasn’t the answer he’d been expecting. “I’m _what!?!_ ”

Loki’s stare was blank. “When experimenting on Katherine I obtained a copy of her medical records. Your name is listed as her next of kin. She is your…sister I believe.”

The colonel felt his stomach drop, so much for secrecy. "Umm…"

But before anyone could deal with the ramifications of Loki’s statement, one of the other Asgard spoke. “We do not have time for this,” it said, somehow managing to sound impatient, “The replicators will soon breach this facility. We must complete our mission and depart before we are overrun.”

Still reeling from the fact that he and his sister had just been outed by a little grey alien in a metal suit, John found himself asking, “Just what exactly _is_ your mission?”

The answer was swift. “This facility was used during the war to create the power sources for the Lantean’s ships.”

Teyla’s eyes narrowed. “You speak of their ZPM’s.”

The Asgard nodded. “Yes.”

After all they'd been through, being chased by repli-bugs and nearly drowning, Lorne really wasn't looking particularly forwards to going home empty handed.  “How many did ya’ll take?” he asked.

“We have acquired three but believe that there are still more we have not yet located,” replied a different Asgard.

“I don't suppose you'd be willing to share would you?” asked the colonel.

The Asgard regarded him each in turn before Loki said, “With you, perhaps. But, you have traveled here in the company of a wraith,” he nodded at Todd, “How do we know that you will not immediately hand what we give you over to him?”

"Ah…Scout's honor?"

Loki wasn't moved. “Even if we could somehow assure your honesty, it is a risk we are unwilling to take,” his metal head shifted and turned towards Todd, “The only reason you are not dead yet, wraith, is because you seem to be of some importance to Katherine and harming you would not secure me her assistance should ever I discover a way around her…impurities.”

“I don't think there's much of a chance she'd help you anyways," John snorted.

“Still,” Loki said, “We cannot risk it.”

The colonel scowled at him. The Asgard, meanwhile, prepared to leave.

"Wait!” Kate called, stopping them, "What about the replicators? How'd they get here anyway?"

"I am afraid that one must have stolen away on the ship I used to travel here," Loki admitted while another Asgard added, "They are not our concern."

"Not your concern!" Lorne exploded, "This galaxy's got enough problems – it doesn’t need _more_!"

"What would you have us do?"

He glared at them. "Clean up your own damned mess!"

The Asgard shook their heads. "Once we depart the replicators will be bound to the planet. We cannot deviate from our assigned task simply to…clean up our own mess," then, before Lorne or Kate or anyone else could say anything, the whole lot of them turned on their heels and marched off into the darkness leaving the humans and the Wraith to themselves.

Immediately Lorne rounded on Kate, a look of panic written all over his face. "Please tell me you know how _bad_ this is?”

The super soldier nodded; expression grim. “I’m aware.”

Teyla frowned. "I do not understand," she said, glancing between the major and the woman she had just learned was John’s sister, "Are these creatures so terrible?"

Lorne scowled. "They almost defeated the Asgard who are about on par with the Ancients so yeah, they’re fucking dangerous. We've _got_ to get rid of them!"

"How?" Todd asked, calculating eyes sliding over the distressed human.

"Blowing them up seems to work," replied the major, "Although by now there're so many it'd probably be better if we just got rid of the whole planet."

The colonel gawked at him. "You wanna blow up the whole planet!?!" he blinked, "They can't be _that_ bad."

Kate snorted. “Remember Sunday school and that story Sister Cora told us about the ten plagues? Remember the locust? They’re like that only about a hundred times worse.”

Finally convinced, the colonel heaved a heavy sigh. "Alright fine, we'll blow up the planet," he paused, pensive, and then added, "Maybe, if we're lucky, we can get rid of the Asgard too."

Lorne looked positively thrilled at the prospect as did Teyla. Todd was surprised by their apparent animosity. "You said that you have encountered these…Asgard before?" three of the four humans nodded, "Dare I ask -"

"Remember the Attero device?" John asked.

He scowled. "Vividly."

"Yeah, well, told you it wasn't us."

Understanding darkened Todd’s golden irises to amber. "This facility was designed to manufacture the Lantean's zero-point-modules. The power requirements to do so are enormous and, thus, achievable only with a series of reactors that, if memory serves, drew their power directly from the planet's core. If we were to set a charge in one of the main reactors then it should trigger a chain reaction powerful enough to implode the planet."

"I don't suppose you happen to know where it is, do you?" the colonel asked, eying the wraith speculatively.

Todd hissed but nodded in affirmation. "At several times during the Lantean War I found myself in facilities similar to this one. For all their greatness, our enemies were frightfully unoriginal when it came to architectural design. It should not be difficult for me to find the location we need."

“Great!” Sheppard exclaimed, “Lead the way.”

With a nod, Todd turned and began to take them down a nearby corridor. They’d been walking for less than a minute before Lorne turned to Kate and said, “So, you’re the colonel’s sister huh?”

From up at the front of the group, behind Todd, John winced while Kate slowly turned and shot a look of venomous warning directly at her fellow major. “You _sure_ you wanna go there?” she asked.

If looks could kill, Evan Lorne would’ve been dead and buried twice over. Fortunately for him they didn’t. “I’m just wondering why you didn’t say anything. You had to have known it would come out sooner or later.”

“Yeah, eventually,” the colonel lamented, “After Kate’d proven herself invaluable.”

Teyla frowned. “I do not understand -”

“I do,” Lorne said, “If Woolsey had known right off the bat, Kate wouldn’t have been the one who stayed,” then, turning to the Athosian, he explained, “Traditionally family members aren’t allowed to serve together in the same chain of command. It creates conflict of interest.”

Her frown deepened. “I see.”

Lorne continued. “You do know that after this you’re gonna have to tell him. He might still try and send her back.”

John’s blood ran cold, yes that was exactly what he was afraid of. Kate, on the other hand, didn’t seem as bothered. “I’d like to see him try,” she spat.

Her brother turned to her. “You gonna threaten to shoot him if he tells you you’ve gotta leave? I don’t think that’ll help.”

She shook her head. “I’m not going to threaten him; I’m going to give him something he wants.”

“You’re gonna bribe him?” asked Lorne, eyeing her. “Woolsey’s pretty straight laced – I don’t think a bribe’ll work.”

“This one will.”

Lorne shrugged. “So long as you’re sure,” he said, giving her the once over, “Personally I don’t think it’s that big a deal. The Stargate program’s made exceptions for families before. I mean, O’Neil and Carter are married, Dr. Jackson and Vala are sleeping together and the Daedalus’ got two engineers that are cousins. That she’s your sister isn’t actually that bad.”

“Well when you put it that way,” John said before abruptly spinning around to look, bewilderedly, at Lorne, “General Carter and O’Neil are _married!?!_ ”

His XO nodded. “Yep, have been for a few years now.”

John stared. “Huh,” then, to his sister, “We may actually get away with this.”

She smiled.

The procession continued as they came upon a junction. Their hallway continued one way while another split off going west. Todd had just started down the adjacent corridor when suddenly John’s life-signs-detector started to beep.

“What the hell is that?” asked Lorne, coming to peer over the Sheppard’s shoulder as the colonel fished out the device out of his vest and held it up. His eyes widened. “Is that what I think it is?”

Retracing the last of his steps, Todd also came to stand directly besides the colonel. The human flinched but, like his sister, did not make any attempt to flee. Todd thought he was starting to see the family resemblance. “It is an energy reading.”

John nodded. “Yeah,” he touched the screen, attempting to zero in on the now blinking dot. “Dammit!” he cursed when the handheld device didn’t do what he wanted it to, “Rodney always makes this look easy.”

“Oh good Lord,” said Kate, coming over and pushing Todd out of the way in order to grab the device away from her brother, “Give it here.”

“Hey!” he protested but Kate ignored him. Instead she copied the motions she’d seen Dr. McKay preform while they’d been on that hive a week ago. Within seconds she’d manipulated it into giving her the information she wanted, “Energy readings consistent with a dormant ZPM.”

"HA!" cried Lorne with triumph, "Those little grey bastards missed one!"

“They missed several if these readings are to be believed,” Todd observed, leaving Sheppard’s side in order to lean over Katherine, “Perhaps we should separate. You and I could continue onto the reactor whilst the others attempt to locate -”

“The fuck you think I’m letting Kate go anywhere alone with you!” John exclaimed, glaring at the alien. “And for the last time, back the hell up!!”

Todd retreated but not before shooting the colonel a look of utter contempt and deepest loathing.

Kate rolled her eyes. “You’re an idiot,” she told her brother, handing the life-signs-detector back to him. “And I think Todd’s right, we should split up. You and Lorne and Teyla can go hunt for ZPM’s while Todd and I go overload the reactor. That way we don’t have to leave empty handed.”

John glared at her. “I’m not letting you -”

“Priorities John, get some,” admonished Kate harshly, “ZPM’s, replicators, getting rid of the Asgard; when we get back to Atlantis I promise I’ll let you be as overprotective as you want, but not now.”

Her brother deflated. “Yeah okay, fine,” he sighed, “Me and Lorne and Teyla will follow the blinking dot – try and find us some ZPMs. You and Todd go rig this place to blow. Radio if you get into trouble.”

The group slit up, the colonel, Teyla and Lorne down the adjacent hallway while Todd and Kate, meanwhile, continued forwards in their original direction. As the echo of footsteps faded Kate realized that she was now alone in the semi-dark with Todd the wraith. A nervous shiver ran down her spine as she tried not to let her fear show. If he noticed, he made no comment instead; an awkward silence seemed to settle between them, yawning onwards was they walked. Eventually, Kate got tired of it and she was all set to try and start up a conversation with the wraith when she noticed Todd covertly looking back at her whenever he thought she wasn’t looking. Annoyed, she let it continue a little longer before she finally got the nerve to catch him out on it.

The next time he looked back at her she was ready and boldly caught his eyes with hers. “There something you wanna say?” she asked.

Todd blinked, completely unabashed at having been discovered. “I admit to being…curious.”

“Curious? You?” she snorted, “What a concept.”

Cat-like eyes glared dangerously at her, glinting in the semi-darkness. “There is little need for your contempt -”

“That wasn’t contempt that was sarcasm,” Kate said, cutting him off, “I was teasing you. Honestly, it’s like you expect the worst from us.”

His eyes narrowed. “Time and again the humans of Atlantis have proven to always expect the worst from me so why should I not also expect the same?”

Admittedly a fair point, Kate didn’t have to acknowledge it. That would only lend it credence and she was _supposed_ to be getting him to open up to her. A hard task when Todd was so damned observant. She eyed him, “So, what’re you curious about?”

“It is concerning your relationship with Sheppard and your purpose here.”

Kate sighed. It figured Todd wouldn’t be happy with the explanation John had given. Lorne had told her that when it came to getting to the bottom of things Todd the wraith was worse than a dog with a damned bone. He just didn’t let things go. “Believe it or not I wasn’t sent here because of John, I was sent to do a job; that’s it. There’s no agenda beyond that.”

Todd’s eyes narrowed. “You wish me to believe that your sudden presence in these stars has nothing to do with Sheppard, that it is only by chance that you both are here?”

“That’s right.”

He glowered. “I find that very hard to believe.”

The woman scoffed. “Well then that’s _your_ problem.”

Growing increasingly weary of the game they played, the wraith let loose a growl. “Why are you here?” he demanded, lips pulling back in a snarl that showed nearly all of his very pointed teeth, “It is not by accident so please, do not insult my intelligence by insisting otherwise. You were brought to me for a purpose; I would have you tell me what it is.”

Kate glared at him. “Well, since you asked so nicely,” he hissed, she ignored him, “I’m here to deal with the wraith.”

He blinked. “In what capacity?”

“Observation.”

“Explain.”

Kate resisted the urge to hit him. “Atlantis needs information but, so far, has had no way of getting it. That’s where I come in.”

“Do tell,” he hissed, allowing his snarl to gain more prominence. The female stiffened, spine going rigid with fear; he hissed in pleasure.

Kate felt her hands clench to fists at her sides. God she wanted to wipe that look off his face. How mad would John be if she just shot him? “My particular area of expertise is information reconnaissance. Woolsey wants me to use you to make a study of the wraith, to see if we can’t uncover a little bit more of your cultural identity. He thinks, and I agree, that understanding motive is a key piece in understanding your enemy as a whole. The more we know about why the wraith are the way they are and why they react to curtain situations the way they do the more we’ll be able to anticipate their actions and thus, establish a more reliable means of defense.”

Todd blinked, staring at her as though unable to believe that that was the whole of her reason for being here. Scenting the air, he searched for any sign that he was being lied to or that, perhaps, there was something more to her reasoning then what had been shared. He found none. “You’re plans for me… what do they involve?” he finally asked.

Her eyes found his and held. “I need you to tell me about the wraith.”

Todd considered this. “What, exactly, is it you wish to know?”

She shrugged. “Anything, everything,” they had started walking again, moving quickly through the abandoned corridors in search of the reactor, “In seven years we’ve learned next to nothing about wraith culture beyond the occasional odd tidbit that, without explanation, doesn’t really help us.”

“I would imagine not,” he agreed stopping before a bulkhead only long enough to pry the door open in order to step through. Having done so, he turned back to the female intending to offer aid only to discover it unneeded. “Your strategy is sound,” he told her, taking a first step down this new corridor, “It is always beneficial to understand your enemy.”

Kate nodded.

Todd looked back to her, still curious about the only thing that had not been so far covered in their, by now, lengthy exchange. “There is something that, as of yet, still troubles me.”

“Oh?”

He nodded. “Our meeting, the manner in which you presented yourself to me.”

Kate laughed. “Well I had to get your attention somehow didn’t I?”

Todd frowned. “I do not understand.”

She snickered. “Humans are food to the wraith and if not food then just another resource; something to be used. I had to make myself stand out – give you a reason to think twice before just dismissing me.”

He hissed. If that had been her plan then she had more than succeeded. On her own merits she had made it impossible for him to think of her as just another Atlantian. Discovering that she was Sheppard’s sister only made her that much more interesting.

Kate was still smiling when she turned to him and asked him to tell her something about the wraith. When Todd asked, again, what she wished to know, Kate thought about it for a second before inquiring, “What sorts of things do you all do for fun?” She nearly burst out laughing at the look of surprise that settled onto his face.

But he answered her. As they entered the reactor core and set to work setting it to overload, Kate listened intently to Todd’s descriptions of several wraith leisure activities. The more he talked, the more she began to realize how fascinating the wraith really were. Suddenly, Kate was no longer dreading her assignment. In fact, the more she heard, the more she started to think she might actually enjoy it.

Only time would tell.

~xXx~

“Please tell me we’re getting close,” Lorne begged, glancing at Sheppard who was at least seven paces ahead of him, still following the blinking dot on the life-signs-detector, “We go any further and Todd and Kate’ll never be able to find us.”

"It's just up ahead," the colonel insisted, taking another glance down at the glowing device in his hand, "Just a little further."

"You said that five minutes ago."

“We’ll get there when we get there major!”

"Colonel -"

"John -”

The three of them rounded a corner and found themselves in front of a large door eerily reminiscent of those found in Atlantis’ jumper bay. "Jackpot,” whispered Sheppard, “Come on, help me get the door open.

It took a bit of effort – obviously it’d been a while it - but after several minutes of grunting, groaning and straining the doors finally slid apart open just enough so that the three of them could slip through. Once on the other side, it took a moment for the room to sense the colonel’s and Lorne’s ATA genes before kicking the lights on. Now bathed in light the full extent of what they’d found stretched out before them leaving all three of them completely awed.

"Holy shit!" exclaimed Lorne, stunned, by the sight in front of him. In a room the size of several football stadiums three Aurora class ships, several smaller, cargo transports and a full complement of jumpers sat perched; silent and waiting. "This -"

"Are you sure we have to blow up the planet?"

The major winced. "It has to be done, Sir."

John scowled.

With sanguinity, Teyla turned to both men and attempted to appease them. "Did Todd not say that he has been in facilities similar to this one before?" they nodded, "Perhaps he could be persuaded to help us locate them. If all such locations are as outfitted as is this one -"

"Then we just might get our hands on enough ZPM's to get the IOA off our backs for good," Lorne concluded. He glanced towards the colonel, "What do you think Sir? Think he'll do it?"

"He will," said John with confidence, "Atlantis is his trump card, without us he’s screwed.”

"Ah to be so valued," lamented Lorne sarcastically, "So what now? Todd and Kate have probably reached the reactor by now, what do we do?"

Holding up his still beeping life-signs-detector, John pointed down at the screen. "Find the dots," he said, handing the detector off to Lorne, "As many as you can in say, oh…twenty minutes. We'll load them into a jumper and then we'll go get Todd and Kate because, I don't know about you, but I really want to go home."

With a nod Lorne and Teyla moved off towards the nearest ship while the colonel Headed over to the line of jumpers. They were on the clock, and there wasn’t a moment to lose.

~xXx~

“Here,” Todd instructed, “Place the charge here and the rupture will be sure to cause enough damage to trigger a catastrophic overload.”

Following his instructions, Kate crawled under the generator and strapped the power core from one of her guns to the inside of the generator’s primary casing. When they’d first arrived at the reactor it’d accrued to them that they hadn’t any explosives handy and trying to write a subroutine into the facilities mainframe would’ve taken too long. It’d been Kate’s idea to crack open one of her blasters and  use the power cell – a capsule filled with two ounces of liquid naquadria – as a make-shift incendiary. As she’d pulled the gun apart, Todd had started leaning over her again in order to get a better look. She decided then and there that the wraith really didn’t understand the concept of personal space.

At least not with her.

Once the charge was rigged and the timer set – they’d had to use Kate’s watch, she planned on making her brother buy her a new one – both the wraith and the woman turned expecting to head back the way they’d come and rejoin with the others. The sound of tinkering, like so many metal legs walking along a metal surface, gave both of them reason to pause.

“That doesn’t sound good,” said Kate beginning to look around for another way out of the engine room. “Do you see another way out of here?”

“I do not,” Todd replied, “Perhaps if we are quick we may yet -”

An inhuman, high pitched, screech suddenly pierced the air and both Kate and Todd turned only to find several of the replicator bugs already entering the reactor core. “Damn!” Kate cried as the insects with their mechanic eyes, zeroed in on the organics. Both she and the wraith began to back up, retreating further into the core room as the metallic spiders took up case. Eventually, however, they ran out of room.

"I do not suppose you have a solution to this?" asked Todd, shouting in order to be heard over the incessant shrieking of the tinkling swarm. He glanced behind him; the creatures had backed them into a corner. He growled, this is not how he had planned to meet his end.

Beside him, Kate’s eyes darted around looking everywhere for a means to escape. Finally, in desperation, an idea struck her and she looked up. "There!"

Following her line of sight, the wraith craned his neck in order to see what she had found. It was an air in-take vent poised not far above their heads. Getting to it presented a bit of a difficulty but really, they had no choice. Wordlessly Todd turned to her and knelt down, gesturing that he would lift her if she were to place herself atop his shoulders. Katherine hesitated for only a moment before allowing him to hoist her up so that she could pry open the grate that was covering the vent. With a whine the grate gave way and Katherine was able to reach out and pull herself up into the opening. Then, once she was through, Todd found a hand being extended down towards him. Grasping it, he found himself pleasantly surprised when the female was able to pull him up and into the vent next to her before, panting, the both of them collapsed backward; kicking the vent closed as they went.

“God, you’re heavy,” Kate groaned, twisting onto her stomach beside the reclined alien, "I think you weigh more than Twelve!"

Eyeing her through the gloom, Todd regarded her. “Twelve what?” he asked.

“Twelve’s a person,” she corrected, breathing still a bit labored. Her arm was starting to hurt now; it felt stretched, as though she’d wrenched it. Not surprising since she’d just used it to pull a two hundred and seventy pound plus wraith into an air duct. “He was in the project with me. We all had numbers instead of names. It was one of the ways they dehumanized us. Mine was – is – Seventy-Four.”

A niggling feeling of unease began to drip down Todd’s spine. “Is that why your name is so precious to you?” he asked, “Because it was taken?”

She shook her head. “Because it was the one thing that wasn’t.”

Remorse blossomed in the pit of his belly moving Todd to regret having stolen something that was deemed so precious. “I…” he did not know what to say, there was nothing _to_ say. Once taken, a thing such as a name could not be given back. Katherine had been right to liken his trespass to rape; what he had done to her was inexcusable.

“Forgive me -”

"It's fine," Kate interrupted, waving away the apology before the wraith could finish giving it. What was done was done; there was no point in dwelling on it. “Let’s just…it’s fine.”

“It is not fine,” Todd argued, “I should not have…it was badly done of me.”

Mouth set into a firm line, Kate dropped her gaze, unable to hold his any longer. Anger curled within her, swirling into a tight knot which settled somewhere near the base of her spine. In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to get as far away Todd the fucking wraith as she possibly could. “Let’s just forget about it,” her voice was strained and caught in her throat, “Please. I can’t…just let it go so we can move on.”

But Todd had no intension of letting the matter go, not when he still owed her restitution. A name for a name – his honor demanded it and so he would yield. “Eldest.”

Grey eyes flashed upwards in confusion but no question followed. Taking a breath, he hastened to explain. “It is how I am known, what I am called amongst my own kind. It is not my true name – that I cannot give you – but, it is a name nonetheless and it is mine.”

Surprise flashed across Kate’s face followed by shock and complete astonishment. “I…I guess we’re even then.”

Todd inclined his head and, for a moment, neither of them moved. They just stared at each other, both trying desperately to quantify what had just happened. Then, as quickly as it had come, the moment had passed and Kate was looking ahead, down the narrow passageway they were in, trying to figure out how best to go forwards.

“Come on,” she said, calling back to him as she began to pull herself forwards with her elbows. “That grate won’t stop them for long and we need to not be here when they finally figure out how to open it.”

Growling at the thought, he nodded and began to crawl.

~xXx~

In the end, it all came down to time. Lorne and Teyla managed to board the first aurora but a couple of hang-ups prevented them from reaching the engineering deck quickly, thus they were only able to recover two ZPMs. That was still two more ZPMs then they’d had so John was willing to call that a win. In fact the most troubling part of the whole venture came at the end when, after nearly an hour, Kate still hadn’t radioed them.  He was starting to get worried.

Real worried.

“Maybe they ran into the Asgard again,” suggested Lorne. The three of them were standing just outside the back hatch of their jumper gazing at the hanger doors as if expecting Todd and Kate to walk through them at any moment. “Or maybe the replicators -”

“Shut up major, you’re not helping,” Sheppard snapped.

Lorne bit his tongue. “Right, sister; sorry, Sir.”

John frowned and looked back towards the bay doors. Where was she? He’d told her to radio if they ran into trouble, if she hadn’t then maybe she couldn’t. Maybe she was hurt or worse, maybe Todd –

**_CLANG!_ **

Startled, all three of them spun around; flashlight and P-90’s both pointed forwards. There was a grate lying on the floor a few meters away; it looked like it’d come from the ceiling. Cautiously the three of them looked up, prepared for the worst; for the replicators to have found them or maybe the Asgard. None of them were prepared to see Todd’s head suddenly appear inside the now exposed air duct. Collectively they all wondered the same thing: what the fuck was he doing way up there and, more importantly, where the hell was Kate?

“What the -”

But before he could finish, John saw his sister’s head pop up next to Todd’s. She was frowning, looking concerned. Not surprising really; it was a good thirty foot drop from the vent to the floor. How the hell were they gonna get down?

Beside him, Major Lorne was wondering the same thing and when he asked, the colonel could only shake his head. “No idea,” he admitted, stepping forwards until he was directly under them. Their eyes locked; he raised an eyebrow. His sister scowled and then turned to Todd. They seemed to share a silent conversation and then, the next thing he knew, the wraith had lowered himself out of the duct and then let go.

John scrambled out of the way leaving room for their ally to land, with cat-like grace, directly in front of him. His eyes narrowed, “Haven’t you ever heard of ladies first?”

Standing, Todd spared Sheppard a glance before positioning himself directly under the air-duct. “If Katherine had preceded me she would have incurred injury,” he explained, “This way -”

“Ready!?!” Kate called.

The wraith looked up and nodded, holding out his arms.

Instantly the colonel realized what was about to happen. “Oh no,” he exclaimed, starting forwards, “No way in hell are you -”

But before he could finish, Kate’d already let go. John felt his heart leap to his throat and stay there for all the two seconds it took her to fall the thirty feet before Todd caught her. He immediately put her down but still, John thought he might be having a minor heart attack. Seeing his sister cradled in Todd’s arms, for however short a time, was just wrong. Like a snake holding a fucking mouse – as soon as they got back to Atlantis he was gonna have to have a little chat with Woolsey because if Kate’s idea for getting close involved letting the wraith continue touching her then he needed to _not_ be nearby whenever they were together.

He might just shoot Todd for the hell of it and because Kate was his baby sister.

“Alright, we’re all here, came we go now?” he asked, trying – and failing – to hold onto his temper. He was sure everyone noticed. “I wanna get out of here before -”

A loud screech and the sounds of gun fire suddenly reached them, making them turn towards the hanger doors. Brief flashes of light consistent with the Asgard’s energy weapons could be seen through the thin gap Lorne and Sheppard had created when first entering the bay. At the same time, shouts and shrieks began to echo towards them, gaining in volume by the second.

Lorne swallowed. “Time to go,” he turned to Sheppard, “Colonel -”

“Agreed,” he said, already retreating, “Everybody to the jump -”

“Wait!” cried Kate, “We can’t risk the Asgard finding a ship and leaving or worse, one of the replicators finding a ship and leaving. We’ve got to close the doors.”

Major Lorne looked at her. “It took the colonel and me ten minutes to pry those open,” he said, “There’s no way -”

“Then it’ll take me three,” she said, already running towards the entrance.

“Shit!” exclaimed John, watching her go. He didn’t like this plan, in fact he hated it, but his sister was right; they couldn’t take the chance that the replicators would find an escape before the planet blew. He turned to Todd. “Go help her,” he instructed, “We’ll pick you up in the jumper on the way out.”

For once the wraith didn’t argue and just did as he was told. With that taken care of, he, Lorne and Teyla fell back to the jumper where Lorne threw himself into the pilot’s seat and immediately took off. Circling back around they got as close to the hanger doors as possible and then hovered, back hatch lowered, and waited.

“Come on, come on,” John chanted over and over again. He could see what was happening and it wasn’t good. The doors where jammed and Kate was now on the other side of them trying to override the locking mechanism. The sound of the replicators was getting closer as was the Asgard weapons fire; it took everything in him to stay where he was and not leap out the back to go after her.

Another two minutes passed before Kate was successful and the doors finally slid closed. Todd had had to brace them open long enough for her to slip back through before stepping out of the way so that they could lock into place. Now separated from the only exit, neither the replicators nor the Asgard would be getting off this planet before being blown to oblivion. Todd helped Kate into the back of the jumper – another sight John wasn’t particularly happy to see – and then informed them that based on the timer he’d set, they had less than five minutes to get back to the gate.

“Well that’s not much of a time frame now is it?” John snapped angrily.

Todd glared at him. “I did not anticipate having to crawl through so much of the facility’s ventilation system in order to reach your location,” his sub-vocals vibrated, betraying his contempt for the human’s outrage, “As it stands -”

“Alright, that’s enough!” shouted Kate, coming between the two of them in the back of the jumper, “You two can have a pissing contest later,” she changed the subject, “How many ZPM’s did we get?”

“Two,” Lorne informed her, “Not bad all things considered.”

Todd hissed. “And will _I_ be partaking in our spoils?”

Kate turned to him. “You can have one,” she promised.

Her brother yelped. “What? No he can’t, we need both of them to keep the IOA -”

“The IOA’s not going to be a problem much longer so yes, Todd can have one,” Kate insisted, “It’s only fair. We did nearly drown him and get him shot at.”

The colonel pouted. “Yeah okay,” he said before asking his sister, “So, what’s this plan you keep talking abou -”

But before he could finish, a resounding boom pierced the air and drowned out everything. Then, while their ears were still ringing, a shock wave caught the escaping jumper by the tail, rocking it forwards. Still standing, both Sheppards and Todd were thrown off their feet: John into the side of the bulkhead, Todd into one of the benches and Kate into Todd.

John was too busy blinking blood out of his eyes to notice. “Must go faster,” he called to Lorne as he pushed himself up to a kneeling position. Another shockwave hit them and the jumper rocked again. This time nobody fell over and the colonel was able to hoist himself up and strap himself into the empty seat behind Teyla. “Kate, I suggest you sit down.”

“What about Todd?” she asked.

John threw the wraith a withering glare. “He’ll be fine.”

Kate scowled. “Here,” she instructed, grabbing Todd by the arm in order to pull him over to the last empty chair, “Sit. Tie yourself down.”

“And what of you?” he asked, looking up at the female now standing over him, “Where will you -”

“I’ll be fine,” she insisted, “Just dial the gate before the explosion reaches the planet’s -”

But it was too late. The entire planet began to rumble so much so that even their inertial dampeners couldn’t block it all out completely. 

"Shit!" John yelled, "Hang on to something!"

Lorne's knuckles turned white on the controls, Teyla braced herself against the dashboard, Todd clung to the sides of his seat and Kate was pulled off her feet and into her brother’s lap before she could utter a single protest. The next shockwave that hit them sent them careening forwards, accelerating the shuttle craft beyond the limits of their control. They shot through the gate at about twice the normal speed.

"Stop!" yelped Sheppard. Letting go of Kate, he flung himself forwards to try and help the major, "Lorne -"

"I can't!" cried Lorne. Desperately he tried to slow them down by cutting all power; the jumper dropped, skidding along the floor while everybody in the gate-room dove out of the way. In one last vain attempt to exert control, Lorne turned hard on the controls and while they did slow down, it wasn't anywhere near enough.

"Brace yourselves!" Teyla cried, putting out her arms as the jumper continued to slide, its momentum caring them through the wall opposite the gate with a loud boom.

Without power, and still going alarmingly fast, the five of them braced for impact as the jumper picked up speed with its fall, plummeting towards the ocean below

~xXx~

It took Atlantis nearly four hours to fish them out of the sea during which time they learned that wraith and salt water do not mix. The jumper had started leaking about the time they’d hit the bottom and approximately thirty minutes later they’d been up to their knees in water. At first Todd hadn’t had any overt reactions but, as the water level climbed, he’d started to get noticeably more and more agitated. Lorne had finally asked him what was wrong only to be told that his skin was burning almost as though he were standing in diluted acid rather than water. Sheppard had then chimed in with the reminder that iratus bugs didn’t like salt water either so they really oughtn’t be all that surprised. Todd had growled at him but had otherwise been in too much pain to do anything else. By the time the jumper had been hauled back into the jumper bay, Todd had been nearly unconscious and Kate had had to threaten him in order to get him to let the marines help him to the infirmary. So, while Jennifer and her nurses worked on Todd – apparently he was dehydrated – John had decided to bite the bullet and go talk to Woolsey about his relationship with Kate.

The revelation had not gone over well.

"So you lied," said Woolsey, eyes narrowed to angry slits behind his glasses as he gazed at the man whom he had come to respect and depend upon. The betrayal cut deep.

“I didn’t lie,” Sheppard argued, “I just didn’t tell -”

“Then it was a lie of omission but still a lie nonetheless!” he shouted, raising his voice in an unusual show of fury. “You should have come forwards, if not immediately then certainly before any decisions were made -”

“Does it really matter?” John asked, eyeing the city’s director plaintively, “She’s here, it’s done. Even if she wasn’t my sister I’d’ve still picked her; she’s the best one for the job!”

Woolsey sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose wondering as he did how he could make Sheppard understand the consequences of his omission. Whatever the colonel might think, this wasn’t about rules at least not entirely. Richard was well aware that the rules set forth by the IOA didn’t hold much water way out here. Some rules were just impossible to stick to given their relative isolation from Earth but when and where he could Woolsey dotted all his I’s and crossed all his T’s almost obsessively in order to make up for the times when the only way to get the job done was to throw the rulebook right out the window. Which is why he couldn’t just make an exception pertaining to the chain of command.  Military regulation stated that two members of any family could not serve in the same direct chain of command together; period. There was no wiggle room. If this was the SGC, Woolsey might’ve been able to swing it but here, with Atlantis under such a strict review; he didn’t dare.

“Colonel -”

“I’m sorry, am I interrupting something?”

Turning, both men found the subject of their debate, Kate, standing in the door way. “Ah, no,” Woolsey stammered, sighing, “Please come in. I suppose we might as well get this over with.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You’re sending me back.”

Richard’s shoulders slumped. He liked her; he really did, which was why this was so damned hard. “I don’t have a cho -”

“What if I give you one?”

Richard stopped. “I beg your pardon?”

Kate took a deep breath. She’d told John she had a plan and now it was time to implement it. “What if I gave you another option? Incentive, if you will, that’d make it worth your while to make an exception.”

Woolsey looked at her. “I’m listening.”

“Have you heard of a company called PSI?”

And just like that John knew where she was going with this. “I don’t think David’s gonna go for -”

“David’s got nothing to do with this,” his sister admonished before turning her attention back to the balding bureaucratic, “You’ve heard of it?”

Woolsey nodded. PSI was the largest utilities company in the world. Privately owned, the multi-billion dollar conglomerate specialized in telecommunications and power distribution. It completely baffled him as to why Kate would bring it up. Surely she wasn’t suggesting -

“Do you know what PSI stands for?” she asked, interrupting his musings.

“Patrick Sheppard Industries,” replied Woolsey automatically. His eyes went wide, “You mean -”

“When he died, Patrick Sheppard left the majority of his company to his children: David got thirty percent while John and I each got twenty-five.”

Woolsey blinked. John, meanwhile, turned to his sister. “Dad really left me twenty-five percent?” It was obvious he was having trouble believing it, _“Really?”_

She looked at him. “Didn’t you read the will?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No; all David asked me at the funeral was if I was gonna contest it. He never said I was in it or that I’d gotten a quarter of the company.”

“He left you a house too.”

“Which one?”

“The one in Rota. You know, with the balcony that looks out over the -”

“How come I got the house in Spain? I hate Spain.”

“Well, sucks to be you then.”

“What’d you get?”

“What?”

“Did you get a house too or was it just me and David?”

“I sold mine.”

“Yeah but which one did you -”

“You’re telling me,” both Sheppard’s trailed off mid argument and looked at Woolsey, “That you two, combined, own half of the largest privately owned utilities company in the world?” they nodded, “ _Half!?_ ”

They nodded again.

“But that’s…that’s nearly 2.8 billion dollars!” he sputtered ineloquently.

Kate grinned. “Which is why you’re gonna let me stay.”

“Is it?” Woolsey raised an eyebrow, “Perhaps you could clarify it for me.”

“We own half the company,” Kate obliged him, “Not only do we have controlling interest; we also get nearly a quarter of the annual net profits. Even if we don’t end up investing our shares in the Stargate program John and I could still pretty much write a check and buy Atlantis anything we wanted.”

“Which means,” John put in, finally caught up to his sister’s plan, “We don’t have to keep relying on the IOA to approve our funding. We’d be completely self-sufficient; next time we need paperclips we won’t have to wait four months to get ‘em only to get half of what we ordered because the IOA was “short” funds. And if we need more weapons or C4 or a tank -”

“Then we don’t even have to bother with requisitioning one,” Kate concluded, “We can just buy one and have the Daedalus bring it to us.”

The director blinked rapidly at the pair of them. “And…all of this is contingent of course on Kate staying here?”  The Sheppards’ nodded, now that they were standing next to each other grinning from ear to ear it was fucking comical how nobody had noticed how damned similar they looked. Woolsey sighed, “I suppose I can agree to that…with stipulations.”

John’s grin faltered. “Oh?” he asked.

Woolsey drew himself up to his full height and steeled his hands over his desk. “If I agree to this – and I believe you’re both aware that I really can’t say no – there’s still the issue of nepotism in the chain of command.”

“Which means what, exactly?” the colonel asked, frowning, “I can’t give her orders or something?”

“That’s exactly what it means,” said Woolsey.

John blinked. “Come again?”

The director explained. “Kate’s orders specifically state that she is here to deal with the wraith so, that’s exactly what she’ll be doing. I’ve already given her an assignment regarding Todd -”

“Which is going swimmingly by the way,” Kate cut in, “On our way to the reactor, I got him to agree to teach me about the wraith. Then, while we were in that air vent -”

“You were in an _air vent_ with Todd?” Woolsey asked, aghast.

Kate nodded. “It was that or get killed by replicators. So anyway -”

“ _Replicators?_ ”

“Just wait for the mission report Sir,” said John with pity, “I promise it’ll all make sense then.”

Woolsey cleared his throat. “Yes, right,” then, “As I was saying, so long as Kate’s here she won’t be put in to the normal chain of command. She’ll have her rank, yes, but I want you to think of her more as a separate entity – like the Russians stationed at the SGC.”

“Separate but still a part of the mission as a whole,” the colonel concluded before turning to his sister, “Means I can still give you general orders but no orders pertaining specifically to you.”

Kate nodded. “I can live with that,” she said.

Woolsey took a breath. “Yes, well, that’s my stipulation. Now, if you two would excuse me, I’ve apparently got quite a lot of paperwork to fill out in order to get the ball rolling.”

John turned to Kate. “I think he’s kicking us out of his office.”

She grinned. “I think you’re right.”

Woolsey sighed heavily at the both of them and pinched the bridge of his nose. Dear God, he thought, please deliver me from snarky Sheppards. One was bad enough but now, now of his own volition he had _two_ of them.

“Come on,” said John, grabbing Kate’s arm as he dragged her along behind him, “Let’s celebrate. I can’t wait to see Rodney’s face when we tell him…”

Smiling, Kate followed her brother down the hallway.


	3. Into the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Atlantis gets a lead on what they think might be Micheal, Kate offers Todd an olive branch first by telling him and then by letting him come along. Conversations are had, arguments insure and Todd walks in on Kate while she's in the shower which leads to a very interesting revelation. All in all it's just another day in the Pegasus Galaxy...

**Episode III: Into the Woods**

A month after the news got out concerning his relationship with Kate found John in his office talking to Lorne. The major was regaling him with his sister’s plan since – as a part of Woolsey’s whole chain of command stipulation thing – she wasn’t permitted to tell him herself. John thought the whole thing was stupid but even he had to admit that there was in fact a method to the madness. It had only taken a day after the truth got out for the city to turn on her; the past month had been anything but fun for Atlantis’ newest team member. Until the dust settled and Kate proved to everyone that she wasn’t just there because of her name but because she could actually _do_ the job – there could be no appearance of favoritism. Although how a mission where his sister would practically be throwing herself at Todd was supposed to be favoritism, John had no idea. 

“So what’s her plan again?” he asked the major, just for clarification, “You said she’s gonna offer him a deal; what kind of deal?”

Lorne sighed. “Kate thinks she can get Todd to agree to start being nicer to us in exchange for Atlantis’ commitment.”

“Commitment to what?” asked the colonel.

Evan shrugged. “His cause. Look – I don’t know all the details alright, just what she’s told me. Kate’s playing this close to the vest in case something goes wrong. She doesn’t want Todd to feel like he’s being played.”

John frowned. “But he is being played. Kate’s planning on playing him like a damned fiddle.”

“Not really,” Lorne shook his head, “She says she wants to be honest with him, give him reason to trust her. She thinks that’s our problem: we’re locked into a stalemate because neither one of us trusts the other so far as we can throw ‘em.”

“So what’s her solution?”

“She thinks that if Atlantis blinks first she can get Todd to follow suit.”

The colonel frowned. “And that means what, exactly?”

Lorne took a breath, now came the hard part. “You know M47 – X23?”

Sheppard nodded slowly. “Yeah…what about it?”

Evan winced; his CO was so not gonna like this. “Kate wants to get Todd involved.”

As predicted, John was not pleased. “What the fuck for!?!” he shouted.

Raising his hands as if to say _‘don’t shoot the messenger’_ , Lorne tried to explain where Kate was coming from. “She thinks that if we show Todd we’re willing to look out for his interests he might be more willing to do the same for ours.”

Frown deepening, John leaned back in his chair. “But M47 doesn’t have anything to _do_ with Todd,” he pointed out, “We’re not even entirely sure it has anything to do with Michael. What the hell’s she thinking wanted to get him involved? Doesn’t she know that getting Todd involved just makes things _more_ complicated!?!”

“Things are already complicated Sir,” the major reminded him, “A year ago we were sure Michael was dead but now we know the bastard cloned himself. It was the clone Teyla pushed off the control tower; the original is still out there causing havoc with his vendetta against everybody who isn’t one of his hybrids. If this _is_ Michael we’re dealing with then whatever he’s doing is guaranteed to be bad news for _everyone_. Kate’s not wrong in thinking the wraith might wanna have a hand in this and _that_ means involving Todd.”

“So it’s an enemy-of-my-enemy type of deal right?”

Lorne nodded.

The colonel scowled; annoyed that logic seemed to be once more in Todd’s favor. “Alright fine,” he growled, giving his agreement only very reluctantly. He was _not_ looking forwards to having this all blow up in his face. “Make the call. If he answers, he can go. If he doesn’t – his loss.”

Eager to get away from the obvious tension that’d been building ever since he’d first brought up mention of Todd the wraith, Lorne snapped off a quick salute before hastily backing out of Sheppard’s office. Free at last. Now, he needed to go find Kate.

John, meanwhile, waited until he could no longer hear the major’s footsteps before crossing his arms and dropping his head onto his desk; one prevailing thought on continuous loop.

~xXx~

“Commander.”

The Hive Commander, standing at one of the systems terminals on the bridge, looked up. “Yes?”

Shifting nervously under the elder’s direct gaze, the Hive Second replied, “We are receiving a transmission from Atlantis.”

“Oh?” asked the commander, a growl permeating his sub-harmonics. What could the humans possibly want now? Did he not _just_ see them?

His subordinate nodded. “They are asking that you contact them.”

The elder hissed. “Very well,” he snarled, dismissing his second with a thought. Then, stepping away from the terminal at which he had been working, he moved over to the communications array. The human that appeared on screen was not the one he had been expecting.

“Katherine.”

“Todd,” she smiled at him, “You busy?”

“That depends,” he replied, “Why do you ask?”

“A whole bunch of girls have gone missing from their village on one of the planets we trade with. The Intel’s a bit sketchy and there’s not a lot to go on but we think it might be Michael.”

At the mere mention of the Abomination, the elder let out an angry hiss. “You are certain?” he asked, “What makes you think -”

“It fits his MO,” the female explained, sighing heavily. “Anyway, we’re gonna go check it out and since his experiments tend to be just as bad for ya’ll as they are for us, I thought you might wanna tag along.”

Surprised by the consideration, Todd dismissed it almost immediately. No doubt this offer of inclusion came with stipulations or was some part of a greater plot. Curious, he found himself asking if Sheppard had bid this of her only to have Katherine shake her head.

“Nope,” she replied, putting an unusual emphasis on the third letter of the strange word. She was also smiling at him again which was confusing. Todd did not understand and so growled low in frustration before giving her both his decision and his answer.

“Very well,” he conceded, lips twisting downwards in a further display of confusion when Katherine’s smile seemed to brighten with his response. Todd decided then and there that it was unlikely he would understand even if she were to explain it to him and so he continued, wiping the frown from his face as he spoke, “I should be near enough to travel by dart in no less than an hour. Look for me then.”

She gave a nod but before she could speak, the wraith severed the connection. There was no point in trading frivolities, he would see her soon. Turning from the array, the Hive Commander returned to his previous work. Only after he had immersed himself once more into the reconfiguring of his ship’s internal systems did he send the mental command to his helmsmen to plot a course for Atlantis. As predicted, it took very little time to reach the city and drop out of hyperspace. After leaving instructions with his Second to have the crew continue their duties whilst he was away, Todd took his leave of the bridge and headed for the dart bay. Steering the craft from orbit to the awaiting human city below, he landed in what had come to be his customary location on the southwest pier.

Once again, the human awaiting him was not the one expected. Extracting himself from his shuttle, he walked towards the major and stopped before him. “Where is Katherine?”

Swallowing hard, Lorne jerked his head towards the buildings behind him.  “She’s ah…she and the colonel are with Woolsey talking about their plan to…oust the IOA.”

“Oust?” Todd echoed in confusion, “I am not familiar with that term.”

“It means overthrow,” explained Lorne, falling into step beside the wraith as they made their way into the city proper. “Basically, Kate traded Woolsey a way to get the IOA off our backs in exchange for letting her stay. It’s all very political; I don’t know all the details.”

Todd hissed. He despised politics, hated them with a passion. He was a warrior, a protector; the games played by those in power held no thrall from him. Time and necessity however had forced him to become a player and, honestly, it was his least favorite aspect of being in command. He and Sheppard shared that – while he had been imprisoned on Earth, the colonel had explained the relevance of the IOA and how their council impacted Atlantis. The entire explanation had been riddled with Sheppard’s feelings of contempt towards that human agency so much so that by the end Todd was convinced they were as corrupt – if not more so – then the Council of Queens. As far as he was concerned, the less influence that particular council had on Atlantis the better.

“And how did she accomplish this?”

Lorne bit back a gulp but answered knowing that Todd had as much reason to hate the IOA as they did. The entire time he’d been on Earth they’d treated him like a lab rat and he’d _not_ taken it well. “Turns out the colonel and Kate are loaded – their dad’s company is like the seventh highest grossing company in the world or something. The deal is that in exchange for Kate staying PSI’s gonna take over funding for the city. Which means -”

“ – You will no longer have to prevail yourself of their council in order to obtain the most basic of necessities,” he gave the human a glance, “It is no small task to hold singular responsibility for the support of an entire city. Is Katherine certain – ”

“She _seems_ to be,” said Lorne, entering the transporter with Todd behind him. He cringed; he hated standing this close to the wraith. “Like I said, I don’t know all the details. All I know is that Kate gets to stay and now we don’t have to worry about the IOA breathing down our necks trying to sabotage us. I’m sure there’s more but it’s all cooperate law and politics which is _way_ above my pay grade.”

Todd grunted and crossed his arms, standing still as they were transported to a hallway near the gateroom. Upon their arrival, the doors hissed open and Major Lorne quickly darted out eager to add to the distance between them. A week ago, it would not have troubled him but then, a week ago he had not yet met a human brave enough to endure his closeness. It would seem that in that regard he was now ruined; Katherine was not so easily cowed.

“About time you got here.”

An annoyed hiss escaped him curling his lips back in a snarl as he and Lorne arrived at their destination and found both Katherine and her brother waiting for them. It was Sheppard who had spoken and so it was to Sheppard that he turned to and growled, “I said I would arrive within the hour and have. Your contempt, colonel, is uncalled for.”

John snorted, glaring at the wraith hatefully. When he’d told Lorne to go make the call he’d been expecting Todd not to answer. The fact that he had, and on the first try too, pissed him off. It was like the universe was conspiring against him making it damned near impossible to limit the amount of time his sister spent with him.

“For the record, I want it known that I think this is all a bad idea and I can’t _wait_ to say I told you so when it all blows up in your face.” His words were forced, jaw locked as he spoke while his eyes stayed trained on Todd. Anger made him bold as he took a step forwards, hazel eyes flicking first to his sister and then back to the towering alien. “If anything happens to her, if you so much as _breathe_ wrong, I’ll -”

“Save your posturing Sheppard!” Todd snarled, in no mood to suffer the male’s attempts to threaten him, “I assure you, Katherine is in no danger from me.”

The human glared at him before turning to Lorne, “If he tries _anything_ -”

“ – I’ll shoot him myself Sir,” he promised, more afraid of his CO in that moment then he was of Todd. A low growl however; reminded him of the wraith’s presence and forced him to add, “But I’m sure it won’t come to that.”

“It better not,” Kate snorted, rolling her eyes at the whole lot of them. Men. “If something happens, I’ll shoot him myself. I don’t need _you_ – ” she was looking pointedly at Lorne “– to do it for me.”

The major had sense enough to look sheepish; Sheppard didn’t. Kate punched his arm.

“Oww!” he screamed, shooting her a look, “What the hell was that for?”

“For being an idiot,” she snarled, so done with his overprotective bullshit. If this was how he was gonna act every time she went somewhere with Todd without him then they _seriously_ needed to have a talk. Todd was her job; John needed to back the fuck off. “Chuck!!!” she called, “Dial the gate!”

In the control room, Chuck the gate technician scrambled to obey, hurriedly punching M47 – X23’s address into the DHD. The gate opened with a _whooshk_ before settling into its normal placid, blue puddle. Kate was the first one through, after tossing her brother a look of scathing reproof, followed by Lorne and then Todd. Planet side, the major pulled head leading the way while the other two followed. It was only after the portal had deactivated that Todd realized the reason for Sheppard’s apparent concern for his sister’s safety was that he would not be joining them.

Suddenly his behavior made much more sense. It also made him curious; it was a rare occurrence to interact with the humans of Atlantis without Sheppard or a member of his team. So much so that he found himself asking, "Your brother will not be joining us?"

The female shook her head. “Nope. It's just you, me, the rest of Lorne's team and Major Teldy's."

“So many?” he questioned, “I was not aware this was such an arduous undertaking.”

“It’s not really,” she explained, “But if this really _is_ Michael we're dealing with, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“A wise decision,” Todd allowed.

“So glad you approve,” muttered Kate sardonically.

They walked on, tailing Lorne who was several paces ahead of them. They’d be out of the forest soon and from there it was about a mile’s walk to the village where the girls had gone missing. They’d been offered rooms at the inn but with Todd involved, that wasn’t really an option. Strauss and Ryan – the other two members of Lorne’s team – had complained loudly about having to give up hot water just so the wraith could tag along. Teldy’s team had grumbled about it too but offered to scout the area for a suitable place to set up camp. About an hour before Todd had arrived in Atlantis they’d called back with a location which was where they were headed now.

Her thought’s ended when she heard the wraith speak.

“You have my gratitude.”

Kate glanced at him. “For?”

With a wave of his hand, Todd indicated the forest around them. “This, my inclusion. The Abomination is a plague onto wraith and human alike, that you allow me to participate in your attempts to gain insight into his movements – It is appreciated."

She smiled. Oh if John could see her now, Todd thanking her, he’d have a field day. "Yeah well, just remember this the next time you come across something you think we'd like to know about."

"Is that why you have done this?" he wondered, turning to study her more closely, "To gain a favor?"

"That's one reason, but it's not the main one."

"Then what is?"

Wheeling to a stop, she turned to look at him; weighing her options. If she explained it to him it was guaranteed to start a fight but if she didn’t, the opportunity might pass her by. Either way, Todd needed to hear what she had to say so, steeling herself, Kate dove right in. “Okay look,” she began, anxiously licking her lips as Todd also came to a stop, turned, and looked at her, “Supposedly we’re allies and the thing about allies is that they’re supposed to look out for each other. Well, so far, neither one of us has done a very good job of acting the part – we’re both so busy trying not to get screwed that we’re missing out on taking advantage of what the other has to offer. That's gotta change, somebody's gotta blink first so that’s what this…” she gestured between them, “… is. Now it’s your turn."

Todd was intrigued. “Is it?” he hissed slowly, one brow-ridge raised in question.

Swallowing hard, the female nodded. “It is: the next time something comes up and you think we might want to know, come tell us. I can guarantee that it'll go a long way towards making us actually like you."

The wraith released a dismissive snort. "I do not need you to like me. I simply require your compliance.”

"Oh you need more than that," Kate bit back, anxiety fading now that the wraith was back on his high horse. Arrogant bastard, _this_ was the part of the argument that might end up getting her killed. "Right now, Atlantis fluctuates between being utterly terrified of you and hating your guts. Neither of which are points in your favor."

"And yet you continue to grant me the assistance I require despite your feelings of contempt towards me,” Todd reasoned, “I state again, I do not need you to like me. There is no reason why the status of our alliance should change.”

Kate glared at him. She’d thought long and hard about how to best to complete her assignment and now here he was poking holes in her plan. In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to reach out and slap the self-satisfied look right off Todd’s smug face. She didn’t, she refrained; but it was a near miss. “Right now we’re only getting the bare minimum out of our relationship with each other. Wouldn’t it be nice to have us actually _want_ to help you? So that when you come to us with a problem we just go along with it no questions asked?”

"It would," he agreed slowly, wondering where she was going with this nonsensical line of questioning, "But it is not like to happen."

"And why not?" asked Kate.

“Because Atlantis does not trust me."

"We would if we liked you."

Growing frustrated with her persistence, Todd narrowed his eyes in reproach. “Nothing you have said has convinced me that this would be so. Why do you continue to insist -”

“Because it’d be to your advantage,” she argued, “People – humans – don't usually trust people they don’t like and you've done nothing to make us not like you less since John met you.”

“That is not true. I returned Sheppard’s life -”

“And then the next time we saw you, you _didn’t_ tell us that there was another part to the virus, that you’d had yourself implanted with a tracking device or that there was a hive on its way. Sorry, but not telling us stuff like that is lying by omission. Lorne says you hate when it's done to you, what _on earth_ makes you think it's alright to do it to us?"

She had a point. It was foolish of him to expect full disclosure from the humans when he was not willing to offer the same himself. A low rumble of a growl escaped him, bubbling up from deep inside his chest and expanding outwards. Stars curse her and her logic; he was not used to having humans point out the flaws in his reasoning.

Once she was sure he wasn’t going to argue, Kate continued. "You need us to like you or, at the very least, not hate you. The only way to make that happen is to stop treating us like we're inferior and start treating us like equals. Trust me on this, a little bit will go a long way." 

Her suggestion was laughable and Todd felt his growl deepen, gaining strength and volume. “I am willing to admit that our races share much in common and have many similarities but not so much as to make them equal. Wraith will always be superior.”

The sounds he was making betrayed his aggravation and annoyance, making Kate instantly wary. Still, she plowed on, refusing to let him intimidate her into giving up. This was one fight she would _not_ let him win. "Don't be so sure," she cautioned, "If we're so inferior, why do you keep us around? We can't be _that_ bad or you wouldn’t put up with us."

“I…put up with you…because you are useful,” Todd explained, “Usefulness does not equate equality. Pack animals are useful but are not particularly intelligent.”

Infuriated by the comparison, it was a miracle Kate didn’t pull a gun and shoot him. She decided to try a different approach. "Do you think _I'm_ stupid?"

The respect Katherine had thus far gained from him made him hesitant to answer. He did not wish to offend her but, at the same time, he did not wish to lie. "You are not…ignorant," he replied slowly, eyes watching her face to see whether or not she would take his statement for an insult. He did not mean it to be, it was simply fact.

"And John?" she pressed, choosing to ignore the obvious affront to her intelligence. Kate was willing to bet there were tons of things she knew how to do that he didn’t. "Where do you rank him?"

Todd made a face. “Your brother lacks the ability to think logically. He is rash and impudent and unable to -”

A mirthless laugh escaped her before she could stop it. This wraith really had no fucking clue. "What if I told you he studied engineering and mathematics in college and has a Masters in both?"

The wraith hissed. "I do not know what that means."

"It means that not only does he get how a hyperdrive works he could probably build one. When he was seventeen Dad caught him trying to build a light-saber.”

The wraith released a snort of derision. Katherine’s implications were clear – even if he had no idea what a light-saber was – and Todd resented them. "If Sheppard possessed such capabilities he would have displayed them by now. Your insistence -"

" _God Dammit_ you're stubborn!" Kate exploded, frustrated beyond belief. Her entire plan revolved around getting Todd to see things from her point of view, and so far she was having absolutely zero luck. It was like arguing with a brick wall; a ten thousand year old brick wall that was so sure he was right it wasn’t even funny. Somehow she _had_ to get through to him otherwise her mission would be a failure and that was something Kate would _not_ allow.

"Okay, look," she said, huffing irritably, "You’re a leader right, you're in command? What do you spend most of your time doing, fixing things or telling other people what to do?"

First opening his mouth to argue, Todd stopped when he realized that the female had found another flaw in his deductive reasoning. "I…concede your point -”

"Finally!" Kate threw up her hands in victory.

" - but that does not prove humans capable of being equals to wraith."

Her triumph vanished. "And you've reached this conclusion how?" she demanded hotly, arms crossing.

Another growl threatened to spill past his lips, he was growing weary of her inquires. So far they had taken him in nothing but circles. "I have just explained how – "

"All you've done is tell me you think you’re smarter than us while I’ve argued that just because we don’t always show off how smart we are doesn’t mean we’re stupid. And that’s an opinion anyway; I want facts. How do you know, _for fact_ , that wraith are better than humans."

Exasperated, Todd made no attempt to hide his growing irritation. What part of his statements did she not understand? Had he not just insinuated that that he found her mental capacity to be greater than the majority of her race? If that was so, and yet she still did not understand, then perhaps he had overestimated her abilities. Todd did not think so, his first impression of her was that she was intelligent and rarely were his first impressions wrong. Perhaps if he tried to argue a different point, mayhap that would be more easily received. They could come back to this argument later.

“Very well,” he began, moving on from the issue of intellect towards a less disputable fact. Katherine could not argue against this one. “Our life spans greatly exceed your own.” 

"Nope, nice try,” said Kate, shaking her head, “Life expectancy is a biological factor over which neither you nor us has control. Next."

Then again perhaps she could. Todd growled. If this was the game she wished to play then he would be happy to indulge her. “Your kind is weaker, lacking in strength. It is why you are prey. If that is not proof -"

But again, Kate was dismissive, waving away his argument as though it were nothing. "Again, biological – not something that can be helped. Got anything else?"

Clawed hands curled into fists at his sides while black lacquered talons bit into the tender flesh of his palms. Todd ignored the pain; instead he let it fuel him. Katherine had effectively dismantled all readily available arguments leaving him with but one option. If she would not listen to proof of his evolutionary superiority then perhaps she would listen to claims against the inherent natures of her race. Perhaps that would be enough to sway her.   

"Humans are shallow,” he retorted, sub-harmonics issuing a quiet threat as he spoke, drawing closer to her in an effort to intimidate. The attempt was in vain for Katherine refused to yield and, spurred on by her defiance, Todd continued. His litany of human failings was very long. “They are petty. They put great importance on things which mean nothing while trivializing that which matters most. True honor is a concept none of you can fully grasp and your loyalty, even to your own kind, is limited. Humans are self-serving; very prone to thinking only of yourselves and not of others. You have a capacity for cruelness that makes you weak and your insecurities oft get the better of you. You are vain, hollow creatures lacking in anything resembling maturity or depth. In short -”

“Oh like the wraith are any better!” cried Kate. Beyond pissed, sometime in the middle of his diatribe she’d crossed over into furious and enraged. How dare he! How dare he sit there and list off all humanity’s sins and make it sound like all humans are like that. How fucking _dare_ he! “You wanna talk about cruelty, lack of honor and vanity? The wraith go out of their way to level any human world that’s got so much as a snowball’s chance in hell of being a threat. You don’t cull, you kill – any life that’s not your own means nothing to you. You have zero compassion and you view kindness as a weakness! You’re just as bad as we are!!!”

Todd growled, advancing towards her until Katherine was forced into taking several steps backwards. Her eyes though, never left his and that more than anything else infuriated him. Why would she not yield? “You know nothing of wraith!” he hissed, bearing down on her with every bit of threat he possessed, “Do not speak of what you do not understand!”

“Then why do you do it!?” she yelled, forcing herself to stand firm when really all she wanted to do was run. “You say I know nothing of the wraith? Well, you know nothing about humans so I guess we’re ev -”

“I have observed and interacted with your kind for millennia, I know enough!”

“Oh yeah?” spat Kate, “In all those millennia how many of us did ya’ stop and get to know? Or talk to?”

He snarled. “Of what importance is th -”

“Just answer the damn question!!!”

Patience gone, Todd lunged for her only to have Katherine dance away from him. He circled her, growling and hissing as he did until he was calm enough to answer. “I am familiar with a great many of Atlantis’ inhabitants. And I have -”

Kate cut him off. “I asked how many humans you know not how many you’ve met.”

Resisting the urge to reach for her again, perhaps attempt to physically force her into submission, Todd replied, "I know Sheppard."

Kate snorted. “Oh really?” she taunted, “What's his middle name?"

The still circling wraith let out a low hiss of annoyance followed by an angry growl. "Of what value – ”

But before he could finish, Kate began rapidly throwing questions at him without pause. She didn’t care for the answers, she was trying to prove a point. "Where was he born? What’s his favorite color? What’s our brother’s name or how about our parents? What's his favorite kind of music? Favorite food? Or, let’s try this; if you know him so well then why didn’t you know about me? How about -"

"I do not need to know such innocuous details in order to know him!" snapped Todd, reaching out in anger to grab hold of Katherine’s arm. Once he had her, he used his strength to hold her and force her backwards; he only stopped when her back slammed hard into the trunk of a tree. Mercilessly he pressed himself into her, holding her in place with his much larger body, daring her with a look to try and escape him now. She _would_ submit or else he would make her.

"Sheppard is human,” he growled to her, senses heightened by her attempts to struggle. He could taste her fear and he could feel her anger, it rippled against him with every move she made. She would submit. “ _That is enough!!!_ "

Terrified and beyond the point of rational thought, Kate was running on pure instinct when she raised her knee and – with as much force as she could muster – slammed it into the space between Todd’s legs. The wraith’s yellow eyes widened, glistening with pain as her arm slipped from his grasp. Kate used the opportunity to reach for him, grabbing him by the collar of his leather coat before spinning them around so that their initial position was reversed. Slamming him hard into the living wood behind him she then pulled her pistol and pressed the barrel down; directly over his heart.

“Don’t _move!_ ”

Todd had no choice but to obey. Katherine’s assault had crippled him, rendering him incapable of defending himself. Weakened and stunned, dizzy with pain and from the sudden change in their positions, the wraith blinked back at her in shock. She had attacked him, attacked him and rendered him defenseless. Rather than yield, Katherine had fought back; resorting to violence because she lacked the mental abilities to otherwise stop him. She had responded, he realized, as would a female wraith.

“Now,” started Kate, tightening her hold both on the front of Todd’s coat and on her gun. An expression of cold fury danced across her face, twisting her lips back into a cruel sneer. “Where were we? Ah yes, you were saying how John being human is all you need to know about him. Well, if that’s the case then you being wraith is really all we need know about you. So…” her eyes flashed as she fingered the trigger, an action she made certain Todd saw, “…I suppose I should do us both a favor and just kill you now.”

The pain was fading but still, Todd didn’t dare move. “I…I do not -” he faltered, aware that any action on his part that appeared threatening may well get him killed. “I am not all wraith.”

“Doesn’t matter,” she said dismissively, gun barrel still pressed firmly against his chest. She did however let go of his coat. “You’re a wraith. According to you, that’s the only important par -”

“I may have spoken…hastily,” he said, making every attempt to appear as nonthreatening as possible.

Kate raised an eyebrow, skeptical. “Oh?” her eyes narrowed, “Do you really think that or are you just saying it so that I’ll let you go?”

Biting back a curse, Todd let out a long, low hiss. “It is possible that I have judged too quickly.”

“Oh, I’d say it’s more than possible,” Kate argued, carefully drawing back on her stance just enough so that she could run for it as soon as she let him go. There was doubt in her mind that Todd wouldn’t eat her if she let down her guard. She had racked him after all and if the look on his face was anything to go by he wasn’t in a very forgiving mood.

“Then how do you wish to proceed?” asked Todd, watching Katherine closely as she prepared to put distance between them. She was preparing to flee and seemed to think that, if given the chance, he would stop her. Perhaps he would but at the same instant another part of him wished to let her go. If she were a female wraith he would allow her to walk away, if she were wraith…

“A wise man from Earth once said that people should be judged not by their race but by the content of their character. I suggest you try it.”

He glared at her. “And if I do, what then? You are proposing that I -”

“I’m not proposing anything, I’m telling you that unless you want us to keep judging you solely on the fact that you’re a wraith, then you need to stop judging us just for being human. I’ll even make you a deal. If you agree to start treating us better – to actually make an attempt at getting to know us rather than assume you’ve got us all figured out – in turn I will get Atlantis to do the same. Then, once that’s all worked out, we can start working on our trust issues and then maybe our alliance might actually go somewhere,” she raised an eyebrow, “Think you’re up for it?”

Todd stared back at her, golden eyes boring into hers with an intensity that was almost electric. Under the scrutiny of his gaze, Katherine did not waver, did not flinch. Instead she remained defiant, as unmovable and unyielding as a wall of stone. Grey eyes, alien to him with their rounded pupil and abnormal color, glared up at him, holding his gaze without fear; their swirling depths screaming with challenge. He had never noticed before; the exact color of Katherine’s eyes. How, like a tempest, her eyes danced like rolling thunderheads before a furious storm. The thought struck him suddenly that he could, if given the chance, spend an eternity studying them and never understand her.

As quickly as it came, the thought vanished. In turn Todd found himself bowing his head, accepting the contest of her last question readily. He would not lose to her again. “I am.”

“Good,” said Kate, stowing away her gun and releasing him all in one movement. Then, as quickly as she could, she fled putting as much distance between them as she could as quickly as she could. She didn’t wanna be anywhere _near_ him once he regained his footing.

Todd watched her go, giving no chase as the female ran from him. Within him, an internal war raged, twisting his insides into a mass of conflicting emotions. On one hand the complete ignominy of being taken to task and bested by a human was both infuriating and shameful; not to be borne. But, on the other – never in his life had he met a female capable of provoking him so easily. And what is more, she had fought him. He had attempted to assert his dominance only to have her push back, refusing to yield. As his eyes trailed after her, Todd belatedly realized that anger was not was not the only fire her defiance towards him had fanned. His belly warmed as the flickering flames of lust began to lap at his insides; rising up from long dormant embers. Years had passed since he had last felt such stirrings and that he should begin to feel them now – and for a human – only gave her argument that much more weight.

“TODD!”

Abruptly shaken from his thoughts, Todd turned and found Major Lorne looking at him. He frowned; how long had the human been standing there?

“Yes?”

Lorne blinked at him. He’d doubled back when he’d heard the yelling and had about had a heart attack when he saw Todd grab Kate and slam her into a tree. He’d almost done something about it but then he’d remembered what Kate’d said about taking care of herself so he’d held off. He was glad he did because watching Kate rack Todd then hold him at gun point; priceless.

“You okay?” he asked, the wraith seemed a little off kilter. Lorne had to admit it was kinda nice to see.

“I…” Todd blinked and then dismissed his musings; he could dwell on them later. “It is nothing.”

That sure as hell didn’t _look_ like nothing thought Lorne, wisely deciding to keep his opinion to himself. He’d ask Kate later. “Right well, let’s go.”

He took off trusting Todd to follow and, a moment later, he did. Together it didn’t take long to catch up to Kate and once they had, it took even less time to arrive at the rendezvous. Coming to a halt, they all frowned collectively at the sight before them; unimpressed. 

“It’s a cave,” Kate commented, peering inquisitively into the cavern’s yawning mouth, “Why is it always a cave? Why can’t we ever stay someplace nice?”

Lorne tossed her a glance and opened his mouth to say something only to be cut off by a voice calling out to them through the gloom. “We could’ve stayed in the village,” a figure appeared and then, after a few more steps, Sergeant Strauss walked out to meet them, eyes narrowed and pointed directly at Kate, “But little miss weapon X had to invite a friend and now we’re all SOL.”

Kate glared at him but let the insult slide.

Lorne didn’t. Ever since she’d arrived, Strauss had been particularly vocal about not trusting her. After everyone had found out she was Sheppard’s sister, his attitude had gotten worse. Lorne was tired of it. “That’s enough Sergeant,” he reprimanded, “You either call her Kate or major – anything else and you’ll be on night duty for a month. We clear?”

“Sir, yes sir!” Strauss replied with a mocking salute.

If it weren’t for the amount of paperwork he’d have to fill out, Lorne would’ve clocked him. “So this cave,” he asked, trying to change the subject, “What’s it -”

“It’s not a cave Sir,” another voice called out, this one distinctly female. A minute later the four of them were joined by Major Anne Teldy. She looked at Lorne, nodding in greeting, “Major.”

“Major,” Lorne replied, then, “So, if it’s not a cave what is it? It looks like a cave.”

She smirked. “There’s a hatch about twenty feet in that, near as we can tell, leads to a mine. We think it’s Genii but we can’t be sure. All we know is it’s got beds and running water; it’s even got showers. It’s not the Waldorf Astoria but it sure as hell beats tents and sleeping on the ground.”

“Anything’s better than tents,” Lorne agreed starting forwards. He stopped when he saw Teldy and Strauss trade glances. “What?”

“Got a bit of a logistics problem Sir,” explained Strauss, “Beds are bunks, four to a room; with the wraith there’re nine of us.”

“Okay,” said Lorne slowly, sighing, “So we’ll sleep four, three and two. Problem solved.”

“Not exactly Sir,” Teldy grimaced.

Lorne looked at her. “Oh?”

She looked back. “The two – it’s not gonna be me or my girls.”

With a sigh, Lorne crossed his arms and turned towards Strauss. “I suppose you’re out to huh?”

He nodded. “And Ryan.”

Now Lorne was annoyed. This wasn’t kindergarten; they were here to do a job. He didn’t have time for squeamish marines. “Okay look, Todd’s not gonna try anything. It’s not like whoever bunks with him is gonna end up a midnight snack so why don’t we just draw straws or play rock paper scissors or whatev- ”

“Don’t bother,” Kate cut in, all eyes turned to her. She sighed. “I’ll sleep with him.”

Lorne coughed nervously. “Oh, umm -”

Kate looked at him. “Is there a problem?” she asked.

The major shook his head. “Ah, no….it’s just -”

“Got a thing for aliens do you?” Strauss sneered, one eyebrow raised in mocking contempt. He frowned, “Didn’t know you swung that way.”

Initially confused, Kate suddenly understood. Her eyes narrowed to slits. “That’s not what I meant,” she growled.

“But it’s what you said,” the sergeant needled, “You said -”

“Okay!” shouted Lorne, cutting Strauss off before the man could say something stupid or possibly start a fight. “It’s getting dark so let’s just all get some rest and then we’ll pick it all up again in the morning. Agreed?”

Everyone nodded, even Todd. They entered the mine and met with Captain Ryan, Captain Vega, Sergeant Murha and Dr. Porter, talked briefly about their plans and then trooped wearily off to bed. Teldy’s team took one room; Lorne, Ryan and Strauss another and Todd and Kate the remainder. As the door shut behind them Kate eyed the two bunk sets of bunk beds before turning to Todd.

“Left or right?”

His eyes slid over her. “I do not have a preference.”

Nodding, Kate moved over to the bed on the left and experimentally pressed on the mattress. It was springy, not particularly comfortable but she’d slept on worse. Sighing she began taking off her armor.

“Katherine.”

She stopped, fingers stilling on her arm-guards. “Yes?”

Behind her she heard Todd shift, shuffling closer. “I…feel I should apologize.”

Wide grey eyes turned towards him, surprise written clearly across her face. “What for?” she asked. Todd never apologized, never said he was sorry; at least not sincerely. This had to be a first.

The wraith looked at her, studying intently. It was not like him to offer contrition, not even towards his own kind. Still, Todd was bound by honor. His attempts to subdue her had been met with force; her actions reflective of a female wraith rejecting an unworthy male. He owed her recompense and, as with her name, he would see it paid.

“My…actions earlier,” he began slowly, unsure, “I…I did not – ” he cut off, struggling. He had the words he simply did not know how to say them. A sigh escaped him. “I would ask you to forgive me,” he managed finally, “I should not have -”

Kate let him keep going until it got too painful to watch. Then she interrupted him. “It’s okay,” she told him, “I get…what you’re trying to say. Thank you.”

Todd visibly relaxed. “That is…good.”

The female nodded and turned her back to him, hands picking up their previous task. Todd retreated to the other side of the room and sat down what was to be his bed. It was uncomfortable but, he had had worse. Reclining himself onto his back, he watched as Katherine removed her outer armor, organized it into a neat pile, and then settled herself onto her own mattress. They did not speak for the remainder of the evening; instead they kept their own thoughts and fell asleep listening to the sounds of the other breathing.

~xXx~

Breakfast the next morning was a dull affair consisting of ration bars and water. The only talkers were Dr. Porter and Sergeant Murha, both members of Teldy’s team. The women chatted away amicably while the others sat around chewing their ration bars and glaring at Todd who had taken to sitting off in a corner next to Kate. The only lively part of the whole morning was when, bitten by the curiosity bug, Kate had asked Todd if the wraith had specialized meal times. Amused by the inquiry and remembering her desire to know of the wraith, Todd had answered her in explicit detail. He had only stopped when Ryan had threatened to shoot him if he didn’t stop talking.

“Perhaps my feeding habits should not be discussed in the presence of others,” Todd suggested later, as he and Katherine were exiting the mine, “I do not think your fellow Atlantians are as curious about such things as you. No doubt they see little value in gaining such knowledge of wraith life.”

“Their loss,” Kate lamented, having personally found what he’d been telling her fascinating once she’d got past the obvious ick factor. She’d just tricked herself into forgetting that he was talking about eating people and after that, it hadn’t been so bad.

Stepping into the light of the forest proper, Todd glanced to her. “I am surprised that you would wish to know of my dietary rituals, or of any wraith’s for that matter.”

Kate shrugged. “All living things must eat, that’s not something any of us can control. Besides, based on what you’ve told me, I get the feeling you see it as a rather regrettable necessity. Like our need to use the bathroom. It’s a fact of life, something that must be done, but you don’t take pleasure in it,” she frowned, “At least not the same kind of pleasure a lot of the other wraith do.”

Todd blinked at her. “That is…a very accurate description.”

She smiled. “Thanks, I try.”

He studied her; the grey light of pre-dawn softening her features, making her appear younger. The sight endeared her to him although, he could not accurately explain why. Perhaps it was because she did not seem to harbor any hatred towards his method of feeding. Katherine looked at it and saw it as a means to survive and was correct in her assumption that he shared her view. Still, her pragmatic outlook stunned him. He would have never thought a human capable of it; even the worshipers hated them for it. It was the primary reason his kind was so feared. 

The sound of crunching leaves and footsteps broke Todd from his thoughts as he and Katherine were joined by two other human females – the doctor and the one called Vega – that would be accompanying them on their patrol. Both had volunteered for the task which Todd found odd but did not think to question. They were to search the woods surrounding the village for any sign of the Abomination or his victims. The others, he had been told, would travel to the village and begin their own search there.

“Shall we?” he asked, bowing his head towards Katherine in a mocking show of difference.

Smirking at him, Kate gave a signal to the others before taking off. They’d been walking for all of two minutes when Dr. Porter turned to her and asked her jovially how she was settling in.

“Alright,” she replied, stepping over a log, “Just waiting for everything to blow over.”

Allison glanced at her. “Do you think it will?” she asked, genuinely curious.

Kate shrugged. “Eventually,” she said, “Once everyone gets over how -”

“Forgive me,” interrupted Todd, deciding that if he was going to suffer them all day he might as well actively interact with them. Conversing with Katherine he did not mind but with the other two – if it were not for the challenge she had issued him he would not have bothered. “To what are you referring?”

Porter squeaked and scurried backwards, almost running into Alicia with her efforts to get away from the creature who seemed suddenly to appear directly behind Major Sheppard. “I…well…ah – ”

“What Allison’s trying to say is that the whole city’s pretty mad at Kate right now,” explained Vega, throwing a glare of reproach at Todd as though it’d been his intention to scare her teammate. Didn’t he have any concept of personal space? And why wasn’t the major telling him to back the fuck off? If he’d have been that close to her she would’ve shot him.

Todd frowned, turning to Katherine. “And the reason the entire city is displeased with you?”

Kate sighed. “They’re pissed that I get to stay even though I’m John’s sister.”

Vega snorted. “No, they’re pissed that you basically bribed Woolsey into breaking the rules.”

“Alicia,” Dr. Porter tried soothing her, “There’ve been other exceptions -”

“Like what?” demanded Vega.

Porter opened her mouth.

“Dr. Jackson and Vala are sleeping together, Generals Carter and O’Neil are married and the Daedalus has two flight engineers that’re cousins,” Kate recited, she turned to Vega, “Honestly me and John; not a big deal.”

The captain stared at her. “Carter and O’Neil are _married_!?!”

Kate nodded. “Yep.”

Vega was still incredulous. “Married?”

The super soldier glared at her. “Did I stutter?”

Vega blinked. “But, if that’s the case, then why’d you have to bribe Woolsey?”

Kate snorted. “I didn’t bribe him; I just made it worth his while to make an exception. He would’ve done it anyway if we weren’t on such thin ice with the IOA. The only reason I’d’ve been sent back is because Storm would’ve tried to use it as an excuse to claim nepotism and have John removed. And with John gone the city wouldn’t’ve lasted very long which would’ve given Storm the excuse he needed -”

“- To have the city scrapped,” Vega finished. “Fuck!” she exclaimed, “How come nobody’s thought of that?”

Kate offered her a shrug, “Because it’s easier to just hate me blindly then to actually stop and think. Just like it’s easier to hate the wraith rather than try and understand them.”

Both girls glanced nervously at Todd who, in their opinion, was still walking way too close to Major Sheppard. “Is that why you -”

“Woolsey told me he wants to understand the wraith on a cultural level in order to gain some perspective on them. To do that he told me to put myself in Todd’s way which is exactly what I did.”

“Yes,” Todd agreed, eyes sliding over her as he walked, “Most effectively.”

Katherine smiled at him.

Vega frowned. “So, how’re you gonna get the city back on your side? You got a plan?”

“You mean other than work my ass off to prove that I actually am capable? No, I don’t.”

“That’s not gonna be enough,” Allison observed, “You’re gonna have to do something big.”

“Like what?”

“You and Sheppard are gonna start buying supplies for the city right?” asked Vega, when Kate nodded she continued, “So maybe you could buy something; like something recreational. Something we wouldn’t normally have.”

Allison nodded. “Yeah, the SGC’s got a game room. There’re a whole bunch of TV’s and game systems; we have one TV and Dr. Richard’s old X-Box.”

Kate frowned. “I don’t know, wouldn’t that just make it worse? I mean you said everybody’s mad at me for bribing Woolsey, wouldn’t that be bribing everyone else?”

“Well, yeah,” said Vega, “But it’d work. Every marine on the base would love you forever.”

Kate still wasn’t sure. “I’m not -”

“But first, before you do anything, you’ve gotta do something about Strauss.”

“Why?” Kate asked the captain.

“Because he hates you. Teldy’s not too fond of you either.”

“Isn’t she your CO?”

Vega nodded. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I agree with her on everything.”

“They butt heads all the time,” confessed Allison, “Sometimes they fight.”

This was news to Kate. “About what?”

The captain sighed. “Teldy’s so sure that everything that happens to her is because she’s a woman and I’m just…I’m not convinced. It’s like – most of the girls on base identify with being a soldier first and a woman second. Teldy makes it damned hard _not_ to think of her as a woman first because she’s always drawing attention to it.”

Kate was surprised, not about Teldy – that part wasn’t a secret. No, what surprised her was that Alicia Vega didn’t seem to agree. “And you don’t see it that way?”

“Fuck no!” Vega screamed, “Colonel Sheppard yells at me ‘cause I did something stupid I’m not gonna demand he be sent to sensitivity training only to complain later that he’s treating me different ‘cause I’m a woman.”

Kate burst out laughing. “Oh my God, did she really -”

“Not with Sheppard but she did pull that shit with her last CO back at the SGC. She fucked up, totally screwed the pooch and got somebody shot. So Mathers, her boss, yells at her and calls her out for being reckless. Next thing he knows, his ass is in sensitively training and the official reprimand he gave Teldy is being taken off her record.”

“Bitch,” spat Kate, disgusted. “Women like her are half the reason there’s still a double fucking standard in the military.”

Vega agreed. “Yeah,” she said slowly, “Whenever Teldy starts talking about women’s rights and how we’re all so mistreated I usually just tune her out. It’s bad enough we’ve got an all-girl team and anybody that looks at us thinks we’re _all_ that way.”

“Sucks to be you.”

“Sometimes.”

Kate turned to her. “So, what about Strauss? What’s his problem with me?”

Allison scowled. “Richard Strauss is an ass,” she spat coolly. “He gives me the creeps.”

“He’s not an ass; he’s a sexist pig,” said Vega, “If Teldy’s half the problem then Strauss’ the other half. His opinion of women in uniform is lower than dirt. I’m pretty sure he thinks all female officers sleep their way into position, getting promotions based on our ability to lie on our backs and spread our legs.”

She turned to the super soldier. “You should’ve heard him this morning; he was trying to convince everyone that you’re some kind of raging xenophile or something. He didn’t have any evidence or nothing but he seemed real sure. I wanna know where the fuck such a stupid idea came from.”

“Last night,” explained Kate, scowling, “Nobody wanted to share a bunk with Todd so I said I’d sleep with him. I didn’t mean it like that, obviously, but by the time I realized what I said Strauss had already taken it the wrong way.”

“Eeee,” Vega sympathized, “Man’s an ass, Kate, just ignore him.”

By this time they’d come to a small stream and after determining it too deep to cross, decided to follow it. Walking along the bank the four of them were quiet, listening to the sounds of the world around them, until eventually Todd broke it.

“Your phrase to sleep with, it is a euphemism for intercourse is it not?”

Dr. Porter let out a startled gasp, Vega made a face and Kate turned to look at him. “You didn’t know?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Why must you humans have so many ways of saying the same thing?”

Kate shrugged. “Don’t know, I didn’t invent the language I just speak it.”

Todd grunted and allowed the matter to drop knowing from experiences that humans – particularly _these_ humans – were not as free about such matters as were wraith. A large part of their culture was dedicated to the pursuit of finding and claiming a mate or in being allowed the honor _to_ mate. As there were few females that were not queens it was rare for a male to hold an exclusive claim over a female. It was far more common for a female to hold exclusive claim over a selection of worthy males.

Unbidden, his mind drifted back to his confrontation with Katherine and the connotations that could be drawn had she been wraith. In his time, a time before hives and queens and a distinct lack of females, what he had done to Katherine could have been considered a mating offer. He had not meant it that way but the fact still remained that to certain eyes, even to this day, it could have been seen as such. Only the strongest of males were allowed to claim a female and so to prove their strength, would attempt to subdue their chosen mate though a show of force. Due to his race’s mental acuity it was impossible to force an unwilling female into submission so the act of allowing herself to be conquered by the male was seen as acceptance of his worth. An unworthy male would be mentally rejected and subjugated and thus denied. Todd was sure she had not meant for her attack to be viewed as such no more than he had his but the fact remained that Katherine had found him unworthy of being the one to tame her.

When looked at this way, the memory of her violence towards him seemed much more acute. In all his long life no female had ever rejected him, not one. It suddenly did not matter that he had not meant it as a mating offer, all that _did_ matter is that Katherine had soundly denounced his dominance; promoting herself as being above him. Better. Todd did not like that, not at all. Something would have to be done; he would somehow have to prove himself the more capable, the stronger. He would have to force…

“Oh my God!”

Abruptly, Todd was wrenched from his thoughts as the Doctor, Allison, screamed loudly and stopped walking. Immediately he and the others were at her side, hovering behind her as together they searched for the source of her scream.

They found it.

Spread out on the ground directly in front of them; bodies.

Katherine ventured closer, ordering Vega to stay with Allison as she went to investigate. Todd followed, golden eyes sweeping the area. Further examination showed that they were all ripped open: entrails and other organs strewn out across the rocks in blood soaked patches. Selecting one of them at random, Katherine walked to it and then knelt down in order to properly examine it.

Silently, the wraith joined her.

“What do you think did this?” he asked, calculating eyes roving over the torn and ripped flesh of what had formerly been a human male. “The Abomination?”

Kate nodded in agreement, hand reaching out to trace – without touching – the lines on the man’s torso obviously made by some sort of claw. “I think Michael’s been making monsters again.”

Besides her, Todd frowned. “But what of the missing adolescent females?” he asked, nodding down at the corpse over which they both sat crouched, “What part do they play in this?”

“Maybe nothing,” she answered, “For all we know, it’s some sick pervert taking them. This galaxy’s bound to have serial killers and rapists same as ours. I know we’d like to attribute everything that goes wrong to either Michael or the wraith or some other extenuating, outside force but that’s not always how it works. No one enemy has a monopoly on evil; it exists everywhere and permeates everything. For all we know, that’s all the missing girls are – casualties of some nameless evil.”

She stood and Todd stood with her, yellow eyes trained on her face studying the look of contemplation painted across her alien features. Her eyes remained downcast, diligently taking in details that a lesser human would have missed. “But this?” he turned to her, “You are certain this was done by the Abomination’s hand?”

“Positive,” she said, stepping back in order to more thoroughly scan the surrounding area. There were eight bodies in all, she could tell by the number of pelvic bones. The skulls were all missing, either taken or ripped off and thrown away. There was blood everywhere, so thick in places that it had turned the ground into a slurry of reddened mud.  

Todd watched her, watched her grey eyes take in the scene before her with a detachment he had never known a human capable of displaying. Whatever feelings of horror or revulsion the sight might have stirred within her she kept it locked away. Todd only knew they were there because he could smell them; the air around Katherine hung heavy with the pungent scent of disgusted loathing. He moved closer, intent on asking her what their next course of action should be, when a flash of movement caught his eye from somewhere off to his right. In a flash he had turned towards it and, upon seeing the outline of a figure, someone watching them through the gloom of the trees, he took off towards it.

“Shit!” exclaimed Kate as, without warning, Todd took off. “Shit!” she yelled again, giving chase as she took off after him, calling back to Vega and Porter over her shoulder as she went, “Stay here!”

She didn’t look back to see if they’d followed orders instead she just kept running, pumping arms and legs as fast as she could in order to keep Todd in her line of sight. Fuck he was fast! Kate’d never seen a wraith run before but if this was how they moved she suddenly had new appreciation for Ronon. If she’d been chased by the wraith for seven years she would never’ve made it.

Ahead of her, Todd suddenly veered right and Kate adjusted her course accordingly. Leaping over a fallen log like it was a fucking hurdle; she slowly started to gain on him. Shit! Her lungs were on fire and her breathing was coming out in gasping pants. Whatever or whoever Todd was chasing better give up or slow down because Kate was sure she’d not last much longer running at full tilt.

God must’ve heard her or maybe Mr. Murphy was in a particularly magnanimous mood because, for whatever reason, up ahead, Todd suddenly stopped. A few more steps showed her that he was standing in front of a crevice between two rock formations, the obvious entrance to some sort of cave or maybe another abandoned mine. Kate came up behind him just before he could turn himself sideways and squeeze into the entrance.

“Wait!” she called, reaching out to grab him rather roughly by the arm. The action brought him up short and made him spin around, a snarl on his lips until he saw it was her.

“Why have you stopped me!?” he snarled, taking note of her heaving chest and gasping breaths even as he let his anger take him, “There is every possibility that that was the Abomination and in delaying -”

“The fuck you think I’m letting you go into one of Michael’s creepy caves by yourself!” Kate growled at him, “Did you not see those bodies back there? What if one of whatever did that to them is in there?”

Todd made a sound that was half hiss, half growl and pulled back on his arm, attempting to release himself from her grasp. “If I were to meet one of the Abomination’s creatures -”

“You’d get ripped to shreds!” she argued, tightening her hold on his arm. Beneath her fingers she could feel the cords of his muscles pulling tight, straining against her vice like grip. “I’m not about to just let you commit suicide.”

Her voice betrayed her concern and, startled, Todd felt himself relax. She was afraid, afraid _for_ him. He blinked at her, not understanding. Why should she care if he put himself in danger? It was not her job to worry for him. “Then what course do you suggest?” he asked, still unable to fully gage why she was reacting this way.

She let go of him. “Together,” she said, nodding towards the cave, “We go in together. That way we can watch each other’s backs.”

Todd hissed, drawing breath inwards in a show of surprise. “And you trust me at yours?”

She nodded. “For now,” she said, taking a step back so that he could go first, “Until you give me reason not to.”

Accepting her reasoning, the wraith turned and led the way through the narrow fisher. In some places it was quite tight and Todd had to squeeze himself through the passageway sometimes with great difficulty. Eventually, a light appeared at the end of the tunnel and he hurried towards it, stepping out of the natural corridor into a dimply lit cavern that was obviously the Abomination’s laboratory.

“Ah, Todd? A little help?” Katherine’s voice called and he turned back; a part of her armor was caught on the uneven rocks and she was stuck. With a low growl, he returned to the passage and offered a hand. She took it without hesitation, curling her fingers around his and gripping tight as he pulled her from betwixt the jagged rock walls. Only once she was on her feet and at his side did he deign to let go.

Together they looked around. There were various tables littered throughout the dark, dimly lit cavern and on those tables were any number of strange devices none of which Kate could identify. Curious, she began to walk forwards, maneuvering through the haphazardly placed tables towards what looked to be a row of short, cylindrical glass tanks. There appeared to be something in them, objects held suspended in some sort of clear, yellowish liquid. It wasn’t until she was standing right in front of them that Kate realized with dawning horror what they were.

“Oh my God,” she breathed, reaching out to touch the glass tomb in which the embryotic body of a child hung suspended. It wasn’t human or, if it was, then it was only part human. Though underdeveloped, the features were distinguished enough for her to be able to tell that the fetus was wraith in origin. A lump formed at the back of her throat as she let her hand fall. How could anyone do this; destroy a life in the name of science? The idea was mind boggling.

Kate heard Todd let out a gasp from behind her followed by a low, menacing hiss. Turning, she found him staring at the tanks just as she had. Golden eyes stretching wide and then narrowing to slits in the next moment, horrified disgust transcribed clearly across his face. “It’s terrible isn’t it?” she asked.

He looked at her, expression open and unguarded. He nodded slowly. "It is," his voice was low, barely audible, “I have known of his experiments, his tampering with nature but this, to see it…” he trailed off, thoughts racing, hands clenching to fists at his sides. “A child is a gift, to see it destroyed before it is even born…”

Something in the way he said it made her curious. “Do you have children?”

“I…yes,” confessed Todd, exhaling, “Seeing this – I cannot help but think of them.”

Katherine, in a semblance of comfort, laid a hand on his shoulder. He let it rest there, making no move to turn her away, for several moments until he could no longer stand looking at the lives that had been cut so aching short. Backing away from the table, he felt her hand fall away retreating back to her side. Catching her eyes for but a moment he saw nothing but the purest empathy shining back at him. He did not understand it, no more than he understood her worry for him. It made no sense and while he would normally make every effort to understand, Todd was not so certain he wished to. It was a startling thing to realize that he feared what might change between them if understood her more clearly.

While Todd turned his back on the glass tanks and started to look around the rest of the room, Kate moved towards a shadow that may or may not be another passageway. Turns out, that’s exactly what it was and, after making sure Todd saw her so he wouldn’t panic if she suddenly disappeared, Kate stepped through it. This tunnel was a good bit wider than the last one and she was able to pass unhindered. Upon reaching the end, she stepped out into another cavernous room this one lined with cells.

The smell of rotting flesh hit her full force causing her to gag before she had the chance to steel her stomach. Todd’s footfalls echoed behind her and she turned, meeting him face to face as he stepped out of the hall and joined her.

Immediately he gave a low growl of disgust. “What new evil is this?” he demanded, coming to stand beside her.

Kate shook her head. “I don’t know, I hadn’t gotten that far.”

Todd hissed, drawing his eyes towards the nearest cell. Iron bars stretched the breadth of the prison’s front and the smell of decay seemed to be coming from within it. Moving forwards, he made to investigate only to freeze the moment he saw what lay on the floor.

“What is it?” called Katherine from behind him and he turned, blocking the horrific truth from her eyes as best he could with his much larger body.

“Do not come -”

Without letting him finish, Kate stepped around him and promptly froze at the sight that greeted her. If the fetuses in tanks had been disturbing then this was downright morbid.  On the ground, laid out on her back was one of the girls that had gone missing. Her legs were bent, knees parted and positioned in such a way as to lend to the idea that she’d died giving birth. If only that were the case. Where her stomach should be there was only a hole, a wide gaping hole from which something had crawled; ripping and tearing its way out of its mother’s womb. Kate could feel herself blanch, color draining from her face as she reacted to the sight in front of her. Contrary to what those around her thought, she was not made of stone and to see this, this horrific thing, done to a teenaged girl who couldn’t be any older then perhaps seventeen, made her stomach clench in revolt. She turned away, raising a hand to cover her mouth in an effort to keep herself from retching.

Todd did not know what to do. On a deep, instinctual level, he wished to soothe her; provide comfort. Katherine was female and she was in distress, the need to help her was ingrained in the fabric of his vary being. If she were wraith he would offer himself, to take in whatever way she desired. But Katherine was not wraith and so he had no idea how to soothe her discomfort. He thought perhaps he might lay a hand on her shoulder as she had done for him – it took him by complete surprise when he turned to her only to suddenly have her press into him, close her eyes and rest her head upon his chest.

“Katherine?”

Kate shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut tighter. “It’s not…I’m just…please don’t move.”

He kept himself still, arms held uselessly at his sides, and allowed her to take whatever comfort she needed from him. It did not take long, however, for Katherine’s composure to return and for her to turn away from him. Todd discovered he missed her warmth.

“We need to get in touch with Lorne,” said Kate quietly, voice shaking, “We need…he needs to know.”

Nodding, Todd let her step past him before turning to follow. The next time Katherine spoke she was calling Lorne on the radio. The next time Todd spoke they were back at the mine.

~xXx~

Despite now knowing that the girls, the monsters and Michael were all connected, nobody felt any better. In fact, if anything, everyone felt worse. It had been gruesome, seeing the bodies on the river bank after getting a radio call from Kate. Lorne had had to cover his mouth in an effort not to lose his lunch; Murha hadn’t been so lucky. Even Strauss had gone pale and, mercifully, kept his mouth shut while Kate filled them in. When she’d gotten to the part about the cave – Ryan lost the battle with his stomach and Teldy turned green. Lorne decided then and there it was time to call it a day.

“Everybody back to the mine,” he instructed, looking around at his team, “I think we’ve all had enough for one day.”

In silence the nine of them journeyed back the way they’d come and, once they arrived, all went their separate ways. Lorne caught Kate before she could disappear. Looking her in the eye, he asked if she was okay.

“I’m fine,” she insisted, “I’m just…I’m gonna go take a shower. I smell like death.”

“You smell fine to me,” Lorne said, frowning.

Kate barked out a hollow laugh. “My nose is better than yours,” she reminded him, “Everything of mine is better than yours.”

He snorted. “You wish.”

This time when she laughed there was some joy in it. Some, not much. She sighed and turned her head, eyes drawing towards the wraith hovering over in a corner. “I should probably take him with me.”

“Who?” asked Lorne, following her gaze. He blanched, “ _Todd!?_ You wanna take Todd with you to shower?”

She nodded. “If I smell bad you can be damned sure he does; he’s been with me all damned day.”

“You sure you really wanna do that?”

Another nod; Lorne wasn’t sold on the idea.

“I don’t know Kate,” he said worriedly, “Sharing a room with him is one thing; naked and unarmed in the shower is another.”

Kate looked at him. “It’ll be fine,” she insisted, “Really.”

Lorne wished he had her confidence but, knowing her, decided to let it go. “Fine,” he relented, “But if you’re not back in thirty minutes I’m sending Vega in after you.”

“Dully noted,” was her smart retort before turning on her heel and walking over towards Todd. “Come on you,” she said, waving at him to follow, “Let’s get this over with.”

“To what are you referring?” he asked, dutifully shadowing her as she led him further into the recesses of the mine. They turned a corner and then entered a very long hallway. “Where are we going?”

“To rid ourselves of the smell of decay,” Katherine replied, pointing forwards, “Showers are this way.”

If that was the case then Todd found it strange that he was being brought along. “I thought you humans were modest?”

Kate snickered. “Some are; me not so much.”

“Oh?”

She laughed. “I’m military; you don’t get far being modest in the military. The only reason the showers in Atlantis aren’t co-ed is because we have so many civilians.”

To Todd, this made sense as soldiers – regardless of race – often had to make due with whatever was available. Having separate facilities for each gender was a luxury and a waste of precious space. Before he could comment on it however, they arrived in a long, low room in which there were at least twenty three sided stalls.

“So,” chirped Katherine, “Who’s going first?”

He frowned.  “Would it not be a more efficient use of our time to simply -”

“As much as I’d _love_ to know what you have underneath all those layers of leather, time’s not really an issue here.”

Todd blinked. “Is it not?”

She shook her head. “Think about it. We’re in a creepy, dark, underground, abandoned mine and there’s every possibility that some of Michael’s monsters are roaming about out there. I’d rather not be caught unawares while both of us have our pants down so, again – you wanna go first or should I?”

Her reasoning was sound. “I believe you have a term, what is it? – females first?”

“It’s _ladies_ first but I’ll take it,” she snickered, “Stay out here and stand guard. Once you hear the water shut off, wait a few minutes and then come in.”

Todd nodded and left leaving Kate standing in the room by herself. Picking a stall at random, she turned the water on, stripped herself out of her armor and under suit and then stepped under the spray. It was cold.

“Fuck,” she hissed, rubbing her hands over her arms before she began running them through her hair. She stayed in just long enough to get rid of the rotted-flesh smell then turned off the water; letting herself drip dry for a few moments afterwards.

She was in the process of getting redressed when she heard Todd come in. He took about three steps into the room before he saw her and then froze. Glancing towards him, Kate smirked at his expression of surprise and before she could stop herself asked, “See something you like?”

“Yessssss.”

Caught completely off guard, Kate’s eyes widened; head jerking up to stare at him. “What?”

Katherine’s incredulous surprise shook Todd from his thoughts and made him internally abase himself for answering. It was just, he had not expected to walk in and find her in such a state of undress or wait, no; that was not true. He had known exactly what he was likely to find upon entering the bathing chamber, what he had _not_ expected was to be so _pleased_ by it. Katherine had a warrior’s body, sinewy and lithe; dangerous in its allure and grace. He had been so distracted by it that when she had asked her question he had not stopped to think, he had simply responded.

And now he would pay for it.

“I -” he began, first thinking to deny the claim. A glance at Katherine’s eyes informed him that that would not be wise. She was looking for confirmation not denial. He sighed, deciding to give her what she wanted. “You asked me if I…found pleasure in what I saw. I do.”

For a moment Kate just stared at him but then, her face broke into a sly grin. “That’s what I thought you said,” she told him, “Thanks, I think.”

Now it was Todd’s turn to be caught off guard. That was not the answer he had been expecting.  “My appraisal…it does not disturb you?”

“Why would it?” she frowned, turning away from him in order to step into her nano-suit. “Coming from you that’s a fucking compliment!”

“A compliment?” echoed Todd now wholly and completely confused, “You take that I find you desirable to be a compliment?”

She nodded. “It’s a hell of a lot better then you thinking I’d make a nice dinner so yeah.”

He blinked, he had not considered that. Still, “Most females of your kind would not take such a statement as flattery. In fact, many would go out of their way to disfigure themselves so as to appear less so.”

“That seems a little extreme.”

“It is yes,” Todd agreed, “But the alternative is thought to be more unsavory. They would rather be food then an object of desire.”

“I’d much rather you think I’m hot then wanna eat me,” Kate confessed, pulling on her boots. “Same goes for any other wraith.”

His eyes narrowed. “Is that so?”

She nodded, turning to him now that she was fully dressed. “Yeah, it is. Look, maybe it’s ‘cause I’m not from here, but I’m not offended and I don’t think it’s disgusting. Like I said, I took it as a compliment. You might be wraith but you are male and you’re not blind so please, don’t make this a thing. Just…let it go.”

Todd stared at her. “I do not understand you,” he confessed, eyes searching her face for any signs of familiarity. He found none. “You react to nothing as you should. At every turn you -”

“Maybe it’s not that I don’t react the way I should but that I don’t react the way you _think_ I should,” Kate countered, smirking. “Guess that means I’m a mystery. You up for solving me?”

Todd gave no reply mostly because he couldn’t. All he could do was stare unblinkingly back at her, taken completely out of his depth. This was not a challenge, this was a dare and Todd did not know what to make of it. In what world did a human dare a wraith?

Grinning devilishly at the bewildered expression on his face, Kate turned to leave. Briefly she considered staying – he’d seen hers, it was only fair that she see his – but then she remembered why they were taking turns in the first place. With a sigh she left him to it, taking up a guard position outside while waiting for him to finish.

Her stomach growled. She hoped he didn’t take long.

~xXx~

Lorne was waiting for her when she got back. In the main room near the entrance; he handed her a ration bar as soon as she walked up to him. “So, how was your shower?”

Starving, Kate tore into it barely stopping to breath. Once she’d eaten half, she answered, “Cold and not nearly long enough.”

The major smirked. “Did Todd use all the hot water?”

She shook her head. “There was no hot water and, only cold and colder,” she took another bite, chewing thoughtfully, “I did learn something interesting though.”

“Oh?” asked Lorne, “And what’s that?”

“Todd thinks I’m hot.”

Lorne chocked on his tongue. “I’m sorry,” he sputtered, “Todd what?”

“Thinks I’m hot,” she repeated, shrugging. “Well, what he actually said was that he finds me desirable, but I’m pretty sure that’s wraith speak for he thinks I’m hot. It’s funny; you should’ve seen the expression on his face when I caught him watching me after I got out of the shower.”

“He was _watching_ you!?!” the major cried, both bewildered and disturbed. The disturbed part was because it was Todd and Todd was a wraith, he was bewildered because Kate didn’t seem upset. In fact, he almost thought she might be a bit pleased with the idea. “Why are you not freaking out!?!” he demanded crossly.

“Because it’s not a big deal,” she replied nonchalantly, “Really. You’re making too much out of this -”

“And you’re not making enough!” Lorne yelled, “Wraith can’t do that! We’ve seen how they, you know – they come out of pods. They’re pod people. It’s disturbing and it’s wrong that Todd would -”

“I took it as a compliment,” Kate said, point blank, “And I think that’s just how drones are made. I bet normal wraith are made the old fashioned way. I mean, they obviously have gender. The queens have boobs and I bet Todd’s packing underneath all those layers of leather though, granted, I didn’t exactly stick around in the showers to find out. I bet I could ask him -”

“No!” Lorne screamed, a look of panicked terror plastered across his face, “No, don’t ask him! If he is, I really don’t wanna know.”

“Suit yourself,” replied Kate blandly, standing up from the crate she’d been sitting on. “I’m going to bed. Try not to give yourself an aneurism over this. It’s _really_ not that big a thing.”

He watched her walk away still trying to wrap his head around what the hell had just happened. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like he was gonna be sick. It was a little bit ironic that compared to everything else that had happened today, the possibility that wraith might be sexually comparable with humans was the most disgusting. And the fact that Todd was apparently attracted to Kate – that took the proverbial cake.

Sheppard was gonna kill him.

“You okay Sir?”

Lorne jumped, spinning around to find Ryan and Strauss behind him. “I…” he stammered, “W-what?”

Captain Ryan eyed him worriedly. “You okay Sir?” he repeated, “Everything alright?”

The major shook his head. “I don’t…I’m, it’s…I’m not sure…” he trailed off.

“You look like you’re ‘bout ready to hurl,” Strauss commented, frowning. “Sir, you’re starting to worry me -”

If Strauss was worried he _must_ look bad. “It’s…it’s not…” once again he trailed off, unable to accurately describe what he was feeling. He’d calmed somewhat in the past couple of minutes and admittedly he was tempted to take Kate’s advice and just let it go. But a nagging voice in the back of his head was telling him that if he just wrote this off he’d regret it. Deciding he needed a second opinion, he turned towards his teammates.

“Kate caught Todd watching her after she got out of the shower.”

“Can’t imagine why,” scoffed Strauss, frowning, “She ain’t much to look at.”

Ryan glared at him. “Speak for yourself!” he exclaimed hotly, “She may not be a ten but she’s at least a solid eight. And besides, she’s got the whole wonder-woman, super soldier thing going on. You can’t tell me that that doesn’t rev up your engine just a little bit!?”

The sergeant scowled. “I like my women to actually act like women. Her, she acts like she’s got more balls then me.”

“That’s because she _does_ have more balls then you,” argued Ryan. He’d been in the gym during her eval,  seen her fight Ronon _and_ he’d been there during her firearm’s exam. One of these days he hoped Strauss pushed her too far so he could watch her kick _his_ ass. “She’s got more balls than anyone on the damn ba -”

“How about we not talk about Colonel Sheppard’s sister’s finer…attributes?” interrupted Lorne, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Her finer attributes are the reason my stomach hurts.”

“Yeah, how’s that?” Strauss asked, “Because she caught the wraith sizing her up after her shower? He was probably thinking she’d make ‘em a good meal and was looking for a way to take her out.”

“Oh I wish,” said Lorne, shaking his head wearily. “No, apparently Todd shares Ryan’s assessment. He told her he thinks she’s desirable.”

Ryan turned white, quite the feat considering his mother was Hispanic and his father African American. “Say what!?” he yelped, painfully, “He thinks -”

“Well this proves it,” Strauss interrupted him, “Todd’s got no fucking taste.”

“Oh shut _up_ already!” Ryan growled, teeth clenching as he turned on his least favorite teammate. “We get it, you fucking hate her. You don’t need to remind us every three seconds! What the _hell_ did she ever do to you!?!”

Strauss glared at him. “What’d she do? She’s a God damned pampered princess that thinks she’s entitled to get whatever the fuck she wants!”

Ryan bristled. “No she’s no -”

“Guys! Focus!!” yelled Lorne who, as much as he wanted to defend Kate and figure out what the hell Strauss’ problem with her was, had bigger fish to fry. “Kate, Todd, shower – she swears I’m making a big deal out of this and that it’s nothing but it’s _not_ nothing right? I’m not crazy for thinking this shit’s bad?”

“Well it’s not good, but it’s not necessarily bad either,” said Strauss.

“Oh yeah?” demanded Ryan, “How’d ya figure?”

The sergeant shrugged. “At least we know why she was so eager to volunteer to sleep with him.”

Ryan looked about ready to hit him; Lorne tried to intervene, “I said Todd thinks _she’s_ hot not the other way around!!”

Strauss shrugged again. “You’re the one that said she’s trying to downplay this. That usually means – ”

“Even if she did, you know, return the attraction – which she doesn’t by the way – they just fucking met like a week ago,” Lorne reminded him, “And Kate doesn’t seem like the type of girl who just randomly jumps into bed with people moments after -”

“Are you fucking kidding me!?” Strauss shouted, “She’s a God damned spy, the whole black widow, seduce and destroy routine – that’s her fucking resume!!”

“Is it really?” hissed Lorne, so done with this idiot _he_ was thinking about shooting him, “Have you read her resume?”

The sergeant shook his head. “No, but I know her type.”

“Do ya now?”

He nodded. “She’s a manipulative, conniving, bitch of a -”

“Sergeant I swear to God, one more word out of you and I will dial the fucking gate back to Earth myself!” cried Lorne, “Kate’s not the problem here, you are. So whatever she did or whatever you _think_ she did, I’m telling you; let it go.”

Self-preservation kicked in causing Strauss to hold his tongue and stand down. He stood there, silently seething while the major turned to Ryan.

“Now, back to the real problem: what are we gonna do with this?”

Ryan grimaced. “Do we have to _do_ anything, Sir?

“Whatdoya mean?” Lorne asked.

The captain took a breath. “Well, it’s just attraction right, like maybe biological? Maybe he can’t help it, maybe it really isn’t a big deal and we should just -”

“But if it were biological don’t you think Teyla or Ronon or somebody would’ve given us the heads up by now?” argued Lorne, “You know a ‘hey, by the way the wraith can totally get jiggy with us’ or something like it?”

“Or maybe it’s _just_ him,” Ryan suggested, “Todd has been around us for a while now and there does seem to be a shortage of female wraith – just the queens you know. So maybe it’s not all wraith, maybe it’s just Todd.”

Ryan’s argument was plausible even if it didn’t make Lorne feel any better. If it was just Todd then they could find a way to deal with it, if it wasn’t; the major wasn’t sure he or anyone else was quite ready for that can of worms. “Maybe we should just sit on this for now. Keep it to ourselves, not tell anyone.”

“What good’ll that do?” asked Ryan.

Lorne gave him a look. “Do _you_ wanna pull the colonel aside and tell him Todd thinks his baby sister is _‘desirable’_?”

Ryan went white again. “Ah…no…”

“Well alright then,” said Lorne, “So for now, we keep this strictly on the need-to-know. Unless it comes up, nobody says anything.”

Nodding in agreement, the three of them went to bed; turning into their bunks hopping that sleep would find them soon. It didn’t.

~xXx~

The humans were not the only ones whose slumber eluded them. In the darkness of their shared chamber Todd laid awake, studying Katherine. Even in rest her body was taut, tense and controlled; ready to awaken and take action upon a moment’s notice. She lay on her back, arms and ankles crossed, eyelids fluttering as she dreamed. In that moment, Todd desperately wished to know what they contained. If not for the fear of her reprisal, he would have taken what he wanted to know directly from her mind. The ability to experience another’s dreams was a particularly guilty pleasure of his, something he often did to the worshipers who inhabited his hive. Humans always dreamed of such simple things; their innocence a balm helping to soothe away the violence that even his subconscious could not escape.

Todd could use a bit of calm right now. Ever since his latest discussion with Katherine or really, if he was being honest, ever since he _met_ her; she had not behaved in a manner that made sense. His statement while in the showers had been true – he did not understand her. It bothered him because it meant that she was an unknown factor, something Sheppard had once told him was called a wild card, something he could not predict or hope to control. Todd liked control, liked being in control. Control meant that he survived, that he and those for whom he was responsible lived to see another day. The control he had in Atlantis was tentative but it was firm; a contradiction he knew but there was simply no other way to describe it. Katherine threatened that control, threatened to take it from him. He should not allow it, would not allow it and yet, ever was he hesitant to actually do something. He did not wish to make an enemy of Katherine but, should he attempt to remove her, that is exactly what she would become.

“I can feel you watching me,” her voice cut through the darkness and Todd startled. He had been so lost in thoughts of how to handle her that he had not noticed her wake. “Staring is rude you know.”

“Forgive me then,” he replied softly, voice barely above a whisper.

Smirking in the darkness, Kate asked, “Lemme guess, you’re trying to figure out how to put me on a leash without me turning on you?” She shifted, rolling onto her side in order to face him. Her night vision wasn’t particularly spectacular but there was enough residual light coming in from the hallway that she could make out his outline. And his eyes of course which were glowing; Kate thought it was kinda cool how wraith’s eyes glowed in the dark.

Todd hissed, annoyed not for the first time by her perceptiveness. “Your powers of observation are…disconcerting.”

Kate snickered. “My powers of observation are the reason I’m still alive,” she explained, “In my business it doesn’t pay to be oblivious.”

Admittedly, Todd had to agree. “No, it does not.” He looked at her then, studying her in the near total darkness. He could see her well but knew that she could not see him, not his face at least. This gave him the advantage.

“I think perhaps I can be…honest with you,” he began slowly, pausing to better study her facial expressions. He growled; even in the dark she gave nothing away. If anything, she was even more guarded. He pressed on; now that he had begun he could not stop. “Your presence – it is a problem for me.”

“Because you can’t control me?”

“Because I do not understand you,” he said, repeated the sentiment from earlier. “You do not behave as I have come to expect humans should. You act – more then I desire to admit – like wraith.”

Kate frowned. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

“For you, perhaps,” he replied, “For me…it complicates things.”

“How?”

Todd exhaled heavily. “You do not act human therefore I cannot treat you as one.”

There in the dark, his confession rang loudly, echoing through both their minds. Kate took it in stride, aware enough to know that what was happening between them had Todd second guessing himself constantly. He’d lived probably his whole life thinking of humans as being inferior and, to an extent; she could blame the Ancients for that. While the ones in the Milky Way seemed to be more altruistic, treating humans rather like adults might treat wayward children, the ones here in the Pegasus had the same ideas about humans that humans back on Earth had about chimps and dolphins. And since the wraith started out as a client race to the Ancients, it was no wonder they didn’t know any different. She also wasn’t naïve enough to think that the argument she’d had with Todd two days ago would be enough to completely change his mind. Realistically, Kate saw a lot repetitious conversations in her future, maybe if she repeated herself often enough the message would eventually sink in.

But before she could launch into another discussion about who was or was not smarter than whom, a noise from out in the corridor caught her attention and, immediately, she was on alert.

“What was that?”

Todd frowned. “I do not know.” He stood, padding towards the doorway as quietly as he was able. Cautiously he peered out into the hall, head cocked as he listening. The noise sounded again, a kind of faint scrapping like something heavy being dragged along the floor. The sound was not human nor was it wraith. Todd had a sinking feeling he knew what it was.

Kate knew it too. “Michael’s monsters,” she breathed, fear making her heart palpitate more quickly. She was at Todd’s side in an instant, moving silently. She now stood with him in their doorway, ears straining in order to gage distance and direction. “Shit.”

“An applicable description,” Todd agreed, peering at her through the gloom. “We need to leave.”

Suddenly Kate was thankful she decided to sleep in her armor. It wasn’t exactly comfortable but, at the time, she’d been too tired to bother taking it off. “That’s probably wise.”

“We should wake the others. Quickly and with as little noise as possible.”

Kate nodded but in the next second, frowned. “How’re we going to get out?” she wondered, “If they came through the entrance -”

“There is an exit tunnel behind the lavatory,” Todd told her, “I noticed it earlier.”

“Good eye,” she complimented, stepping past him out into the hallway, looking both ways once before turning back to him. “I’ll go get Lorne, you go get Teldy.”

He blinked. “You are sending _me_ into a room full of slumbering females?”

“Teldy’s less likely to shoot first if you wake her up. Strauss is a light sleeper; if he wakes up before Lorne you’re dead.”

With a nod, Todd left to go wake the women while Kate turned and started creeping towards the guy’s room. Every single one of them was snoring when she arrived and, as predicted, the simple act of entering their room was enough to startle Sergeant Strauss awake.

“What the -”

“Shut up and get dressed!” she hissed at him, cutting him off before he could give away their position. “Whatever killed that hunting party is here. Help me wake everybody else up.”

In the face of imminent death, Strauss for once did exactly what he was told; got up, got dressed and then went to wake up Ryan while Kate crossed over to Lorne and shook the major awake. After telling him the same thing she told the sergeant, Lorne jumped out of bed and was leading the way out the door faster than a fucking cheetah on crack. 

Out in the hallway, he turned to Kate. “What about Teldy -”

She cut him off. “Todd went to go wake her up.”

“You sent _Todd_ to go wake up Teldy!?” he stage whispered, “She’ll kill him!”

“Teldy can’t shoot worth crap first thing in the morning,” Kate argued, “And Vega sleeps like the dead.”

“What about Murha and Porter?”

“They flinch every time Todd _breathes_ too loudly; you really see them pointing a gun at him?”

“Right, you have a point.”

Kate smirked triumphantly, leading the way through the winding passages to the showers. Past them, there was a bend in the hallway and then an exit door, just like Todd’d said. She’d have to remember thank him later. “Okay, now we’re gonna need to do this as quietly as poss -”

“You!”

The four of them turned; Teldy was marching towards them and she did not look happy.

Lorne tried to intercept her. “Now’s not the time Ma -”

“Shut up Lorne!” Teldy spat, stepping around him in order to get right up in Kate’s face. “You sent a fucking wraith into me and my girl’s room. What the fuck is wrong with -”

“I sent _Todd_ to your room to wake you up because if I’d’ve sent him to wake up Lorne, Strauss would’ve shot him. Your aim sucks enough when you’re awake; it’s worse first thing in the morning. It was a strategic move, get over it.”

Teldy’s nostrils flared, eyes going wide at the insult. In a flash she pulled her side arm and aimed it directly at Kate. “You wanna test me, bitch!?” she challenged.

Kate didn’t so much as blink. Lorne, on the other hand, shot forwards. “Major! What the fuck are you doing? We don’t have time for -”

Taking her eyes off Kate in order to look at Lorne, Teldy completely missed the hand coming at her until it was too late. In a matter of seconds Kate had the woman disabled – pinned against the wall, unarmed and with her arms twisted behind her back.

“Now,” said Kate, pressing her weight onto the other woman in order to keep her still, “If you’re done being a belligerent bitch -” she let go, allowing Teldy to stumble away from her, red faced and angry, “ – Michael’s monsters have come to pay us a visit. So, unless we wanna end up like that hunting party we found, I suggest you take whatever you wanna say to me and shove it up your ass because I don’t particularly wanna die. When we get back to Atlantis you can have at me, hell we can even make a show of it. Strip down and wrestle in a puddle of mud for all I care. But, right now, we need to go!”

Bronze cheeks flushed with color and breathing hard, Teldy glared at her while the men – and even Vega – tried not to snicker. Kate rounded on the rest of them. “Anybody else got any objections? No? Then let’s get the hell outta Dodge.”

Wordlessly the group followed her, filing into the escape tunnel as soon as Kate pried open the door. The passage was long and narrow, forcing them to move slowly and in single file. It took several minutes to reach the exit and once they had, they found themselves on a kind of ledge overlooking a sea of trees.

“Where’s the gate?” asked Ryan.

“It is that way,” said Todd, pointing off to the left. “We have another problem, however.”

“Oh yeah?” Strauss glared at him, “What?”

The wraith turned to him. “The creatures, they are below us.”

Everyone looked down. “Holy shit!” Vega exclaimed, “They’re everywhere.”

“We’re dead aren’t we?” whimpered Porter with tears in her eyes. “There’s no way -”

“We’re not dead yet,” Kate argued, “We’ve just gotta clear a path.”

“That simple huh?” Strauss hissed at her, “I’m not fucking going down there, that’s suicide.”

“Then stay here!” Kate snapped, turning to start her way down into the forest.

Lorne grabbed her. “Are you insane!” he yelled, “You can’t take on that many of those things by yourself!”

As if in agreement, the mass of creatures below them suddenly screamed, filling the air with a horrible, grating shriek. Then, in mass, they looked up; jaws opening and claws flexing at the sight of the eight humans and one wraith standing above them. Lorne, Ryan, Strauss and Teldy’s team all flinched in fear while Kate turned to Lorne and pulled herself from his grasp. She turned to him, eyes hard and expression cold.

“You have no idea what I’m capable of.”

Lorne blinked in surprise, taken aback. Then, before he could stop her, Kate took herself over the ledge, dropping down to the forest floor and landing in a crouch. She was up before the first of the creatures could even turn to her; pulling out a grenade, removing the pin and then shoving it down the monster’s throat. The creature exploded and Kate moved on to the next one, jumping onto it’s back and locking her legs under its arms before putting both hands on either side of its head and snapping it’s neck. It fell and she leap off, turning to the next one. Up on the ledge, the others could do nothing more than stare.

“It’s like Firefly,” Ryan breathed, eyes widening as she pulled the grenade trick again, “The part at the end with River and the Reavers. She’s killing -”

“I know what it looks like,” shouted Lorne over the sounds of Michael’s monsters dying. He turned to Todd who was watching Kate fight with what the major thought might be admiration. “Hey Todd!” he called, the wraith turned, “What say we help her out?”

Nodding in agreement, Todd followed the others from the embankment down into the fray. While the humans clumped together, raining bullets down on every creature that came near, the elder warrior went in search of Katherine. He found her a distance away, embroiled in battle. With a ferocious growl, he joined her; coming to her side just in time to pull one of the monsters off of her who had had her pinned. Then, turning to her, he held out his hand.

She took it. “Thanks.”

A dangerous smile transformed his face. “Let us see what you can do.”

Accepting the challenge, Kate turned from him and redoubled her efforts knowing that not only was she proving herself to the others, she was proving herself to him. The two of them fought side by side, slaying and flaying everything that got in their way; clearing a path forwards towards the gate. Lorne and the others followed them, covering their backs as they pushed though. The sky was just beginning to lighten by the time they broke through the line and got their first clear shot at the stargate.

“Lorne!” Kate called, kicking one of the creatures in the chest and then holding it down before ripping its bottom jaw off. “Lorne! Dial!”

Darting up from behind, he shot past her and nearly collided with the DHD. As fast as he could he dialed Atlantis and then radioed the control room. As soon as Chuck gave him the all clear and let him know the shield was down, he shouted back at the others to hurry through. Porter went first followed by Murha and Vega then Teldy. Kate and Todd pulled back in order to cover their asses so that Ryan and Strauss could run forwards and dive through.

“Kate, Todd!” he shouted, waving wildly at them, “Let’s -”

“Go!” cried Kate, grabbing a creature by its tail before it could get past her and charge Lorne, “Go! I’ll be fine!”

“Fuck that!” he screamed, “I can’t -”

The monster pulled itself from her grasp and charged him. Lorne couldn’t get out of the way fast enough. The thing tackled him, propelling him through the gate and into Atlantis before he could stop himself.

He landed with a thud, Michael’s creations snarling and scratching above him; jaws just inches away from his face.

“Holy shit!” he heard Sheppard yell. “Fire, fire, fire at will!!”

The marines in the gateroom opened up and plugged the thrashing hybrid full of holes. It fell off him onto the floor and Lorne turned over, meeting the colonel’s eyes with a relieved expression. “Colonel -”

“Where’s Kate?” john asked, darting forwards, looking everywhere for his sister. “Is she -”

“Atlantis this is Major Sheppard please respond!”

John immediately hit his radio. “Kate!?!”

Her voice came back strained. “Todd and I are…there are too many…” she panted, heavy breaths echoing around the silent gateroom, “Can’t…need you…raise the shield.”

Her brother’s eyes widened. “What!?! Why!!?! What about -”

“Just do it John!!” Kate screamed. “Just -”

A loud screech cut her off and drowned her out. Against every instinct he had, John signaled Chuck and had him raise the shield. For a moment nothing happened and then there was a thud and another and then another. For ten minutes straight the gateroom was completely silent save for the sound of Michael’s monsters hitting the city’s shield. Then, when it was all over, John activated his radio.

“Kate?”

“Kate answer me,” still nothing, “Kate please respon -”

“I’m here, John,” she sounded tired, “We’re both here. Lower the shield, we’re coming through.”

The shield dropped and as soon as John relayed that it was safe, Kate and Todd stepped through.

The entire room gasped. Both of them were covered from head to toe in thick, oozing black blood as well as various small bits of flesh mostly on their hands. The two of them looked absolutely menacing, like horsemen of the apocalypse or maybe demons straight out of hell. It was in that moment, seeing her standing there next to Todd, looking as scary and intimidating as he did, that John realized he didn’t have to worry about his sister. He still would, of course he would, but he didn’t _have_ to. Kate was obviously more than capable of taking care of herself.

“The two of you desperately need a shower,” he quipped, walking up to them while Woolsey came down from his office and headed over towards Teldy and the others. “I mean, seriously. You both look like shit.”

Kate made a face. “I can imagine,” she turned to Todd, “Shall we?”

“Will we be taking turns again?” he asked, grinning slyly.

She smirked. “Why, so you can walk in and ogle me again before I’m done getting dressed? Naw, I think we’ll take separate ones this time.”

His grin turned lascivious. “Pity.”

Kate snickered and starting walking off, gesturing for him to follow. John stayed behind; a deeply disgusted and disturbed look on his face. Slowly he processed what Kate had said, feeling as though he might get sick “Lorne!” he shouted, the major turned to him, expression open.

“Yes Sir?”

The colonel eyed him. “What’s this about Kate and Todd and a shower?”

The color drained right out of Lorne face. “Ah…it’s a long story Sir,” he said slowly.

John crossed his arms. “I’ve got time.”

Evan Lorne heaved a sigh. “Alright Sir,” he relented, grimly excepting the inevitable. He wondered if he could get through this without mentioning the whole possible Todd-thinks-Kate’s-hot thing. He would certainly try. “It’s like this…”

John’s face turned green.

~xXx~

“Commander, you have returned.”

Todd hissed and stalked past his second – the one the humans called Kenny – on his way towards the bridge. His mind was a swirling mess of thoughts and feelings all of which seemed centered around Sheppard’s sister. He growled, he did not want to think of her now. The female was a problem, one he would either have to get rid of or solve and since her challenge to him had been to do the latter, he expected that that is what he would do. Todd was not one to so easily back down from a challenge but, at the same time, he could not spend an overwhelming amount of time on it.

He had better things to do.

“Set a course for the Starlargic Nebula,” he ordered his helmsman, before turning to redirect his steps towards his quarters. He needed to think and in order to do that he needed to be alone, no underlying scurrying about underfoot, distracting him with endless stupid questions. “Unless it is urgent, do not disturb me.”

“Are you well Commander?” Kenney asked, concerned.

The elder snarled and turned away on his heel, vanishing into the darkness of the hive. “I will be.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Sup peeps? Just remember that reviews and comments are the only way fan-fiction authors get paid so, if you liked it, tell me and if you didn't well...feel free to tell me that too. Constructive criticism is encouraged, flames with be doused and ignored. Hope everyone enjoyed this one.
> 
> Cheers!


	4. I do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which McKay pops the question and a hive attempts to crash the wedding. Oh, and Todd learns how to dance...

**Episode IV: I Do**

Jennifer Keller missed the stars back on earth. She missed the history of the constellations, the man in the moon, the big and little dippers and how you can always see Venus just before dawn. That didn't mean that the stars above Atlantis weren't beautiful or that the twin moons didn't make for an interesting sight; it just wasn’t the same. It was different, everything in the Pegasus galaxy was different and yet, still, sometimes things were very much the same.

"I'm glad you brought me out here," the doctor whispered, lowering her eyes from the star speckled night sky. Turning towards Rodney, she offered a soft smile, "It's nice."

Rodney swallowed fretfully. "Um, y-you think so?" he stammered, trying in vain to sound less nervous then he actually was, "Lorne said that you liked stargazing."

His date smiled. "Yeah, I do, it was one of my favorite things to do as a kid. Mom bought me a telescope when I was six; I still have it in my old room at Dad's house back on earth. She and I used to spend hours looking up at the sky during the summer, when she wasn’t teaching. I miss her.”

Jennifer’s gaze had returned to the stars and Rodney took a moment to truly look at her. It was rare for Atlantis’ chief doctor to talk about her mother. All Rodney knew of the woman was that she’d died when Jennifer was thirteen and that it had been her battle with long term illness that had motivated her daughter to become a doctor. But, other than that, Rodney was clueless. That Jennifer chose to share this little bit with him made him happy and gave him the courage needed to ask the question he’d brought her out here to ask.

“Ah, J-Jennifer?”

She looked at him.

Rodney rang his hands together. Even sitting next to her, not actually touching her his palms were sweaty. "I…ah, I ac-actually brought you out here to – to ask you…something.”

Something in his voice made the doctor frown and turn towards her boyfriend. "Rodney," she asked, her voice betraying her concern, "Is something wrong?"

Rodney's face took on a look of panic. "Wrong?" he jittered, "No, nothing’s wrong I mean, something could be wrong very far away but not here. Here everything is perfect and…" searching for something to distract himself from his own nervous rant he pointed up, "Oh look, stars."

Worry morphed Jennifer's face as she twisted towards him and reached out to take his hands. "Rodney," she soothed, "Why are you so nervous?"

"Nervous?" he echoed, "I'm n-not nervous, am I?"

Jennifer sighed. "Look, maybe we should go back inside -"

"No!" Rodney protested violently, startling the young doctor as he pulled one of his hands from hers and reached for the object that had been burning a hole through his pocket for over three months now, "I'm just, you’re right I am nervous, a lot actually I mean you could say no."

"Say no to what?" Jennifer asked curiously, laughing a little at the deer in the headlights expression on her boyfriend’s face, "Rodney, what's going on?"

The Canadian scientist collected himself and sighed. "I asked you to come out here tonight because I wanted to ask you something," then, reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small box that he’d been carrying around with him for at least a month now. Holding it out to her he watched as her face took on a look of total surprise.

"Rodney, I-" Jennifer gasped, hazel eyes wide as she stared, “Is that –?”

“Your mother’s engagement ring,” the physicist confirmed, taking the ring from the box, “I ah…I g-got it from your dad before we left earth with the city and I…I’ve been waiting for the right time to…to give it to you.”

Jennifer’s eyes were shining with tears as she felt Rodney pick up her hand and then carefully, reverently, slide the ring onto the heart finger of her left hand. “Jennifer,” Rodney began, “You're the best thing that ever happened to me, hands down. Before coming to Atlantis, before all the amazing stuff I’ve discovered and seen and done, you’re it. A-And I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life without you so, I guess I’m asking, I mean I want ah, w-will y-you – ”

The rest of Rodney’s rambling proposal was cut off as Jennifer placed both hands on either side of his face and kissed him for all she was worth. The scientist let out a squeak of surprise but then responded to her with eager vigor, pulling apart only when both of them had run out of air.

“So is that a yes?” he asked although, for once, Rodney McKay thought he’d gotten all the right social cues and figured out the answer for himself. Still, he wanted to make sure.

The doctor nodded. “Yes Rodney,” she told him, leaning in to kiss him again, “That was a yes.”

“Oh, ah…well yay.”

Jennifer shot him a look. “Did you really think I’d say no?”

The Canadian looked flustered. “Well I…I was afraid you might I mean, even after everything, I…I don’t exactly, I mean, I’m not really and y-you’re…”

“Rodney,” Jennifer said gently, cutting off her fiancé’s rambling rant, “I love you. Of course I want to marry you.”

Rodney swallowed thickly. “Well, that’s…good because I think I’d have killed myself if you’d said no.”

She smiled at him. “Well we can’t have that,” she said, leaning in again. This time when they pulled apart Rodney lifted a hand and stroked gently down the side of her face.

“I love you so much, Jennifer Keller,” he confessed, “You’ve made me the happiest man literally ever.”

Her response was another long, searing kiss that if Rodney hadn’t already been sitting down, would’ve landed him flat on his ass. They spent the next hour kissing and looking back up at the stars in the night sky before finally retiring to bed.

In the morning, Rodney went in search of John. He had a question for the colonel that he desperately hoped was a yes.

~xXx~

"What does this look like to you?"

Kate frowned and eyed the piece of what was _supposedly_ fruit speared on the end of Lorne’s fork. "Something that you shouldn't be eating,” she said, pushing her tray away from her, "Does Cook really expect us to eat this?"

"I think this is his way of getting back at Woolsey for telling him that he couldn’t keep experimenting with alien food. Woolsey says that most of our produce should be coming from our farms on the mainland,” responded Lorne with a depressed sigh. “ _I_ think Woolsey’s just not a very adventurous eater and this is his way of sticking it to the man just because he can.”

His tablemate frowned. “So the kitchen staff is what, using up whatever they’ve got in the deepfreeze before going back to freeze dried Salisbury steak and mashed not-quite-potatoes-but-that’s-what-we’re-calling-them?” 

The major made a face. “That sounds about right.”

“Fuck Woolsey,” Kate scowled, “I can’t _wait_ until we get the new budget approved.”

“How’s that goin’ by the way?”

“Just peachy, David’s being a total ass. John and I are gonna have to go talk to him. Right now he’s giving General O’Neil the run around.”

“What for?” asked Lorne, frowning.

Kate sighed. “He’s holding out in the hopes that if he makes a big enough stink about everything he’ll get read in.”

“Like he wants to know what you and the colonel are doing?”

She nodded.

Lorne offered her a shrug. “Well, he’s your brother. Is it really that odd that he’d want to know -”

“Hey guys!”

They looked up. An unusually bubbly Dr. Keller was making her way towards them, grinning like there was no tomorrow. She plopped down next to Lorne and smiled, “What’s up?”

“David’s being a dick and our cook’s lost his damned mind,” Kate grabbed Lorne’s fork – prongs still speared through the questionable piece of fruit – and held it up. "Does this look eatable to you?"

"What _is_ that?" Jennifer asked.

"It's _supposed_ to be some kind of fruit, like a date I think," explained Lorne while Kate, with no small amount of disgust, tossed his fork onto her plate. It hit with a clang and a wet plop. He looked down at it and made a face, "The Mateekins gave them to us."

"Well there's your problem right there," Jennifer reasoned, "Aren't the Mateekins the ones whose whole planet is one big swamp?"

Kate and Lorne exchanged a glance. "That might explain things," Lorne nodded, still hungry despite the questionable cuisine in front of him. “Hey Jenn, do ya think your boyfriend would mind if we raided his private stash of MRE’s?”

The doctor nodded. “Go right ahead. I’ll tell him it’s okay.”

Lorne grinned. “Thanks Jenn, you’re the best.”

Kate glanced at her. “Speaking of your boyfriend, how’d the big date go last night?”

Jennifer blushed; the soldiers exchanged a look. "That well huh?" Lorne asked, a teasing grin playing with the corners of his mouth.

The hazel eyed doctor nodded, face alight with the largest grin the pair of them had ever seen. "Well?" Kate prodded, "What happened?"

Beaming, Jennifer lifted the hand she’d strategically hidden in her lap and held it out to them. “Rodney asked me to marry him!”

Lorne's eyes lit up. "Holy shit,” he exclaimed, “Sheppard so owes me money!”

Jennifer frowned at him. “Money?” her frown deepened as she sat back and crossed her arms, “Did you place a bet on this?”

The major had the good sense to look sheepish. “Ah…”

“It’s a military thing,” Kate explained, “We bet on everything.”

“Oh,” Jennifer sighed, “Well I’ve never heard -”

“It’s kind of an under-the-table everybody-does-it-nobody-talks-about-it kind of thing,” Lorne clarified, “Like fight club.”

“Ah.”

“So what’s the plan?” Kate asked, “It’s obviously gonna be here, right? I mean, there’s no way in hell Woolsey or the SGC would let a third of the city take leave at the same time so…”

“I hadn’t really thought about the _how_ , actually,” Jennifer confessed, sighing. “I’m still kinda in shock that it’s happening at all.”

“And that’s okay,” Lorne said, “I mean; you’re not doing it right away so we’ve got time. Got a date yet?”

She nodded. “August 5th.”

Kate grinned. “That gives us about a month, I’m sure we can come up with a plan in a month. Your fiancé’s pulled brilliant save-the-world idea’s out of his ass in less time than that. How hard can planning a wedding in another galaxy really be?”

The doctor didn’t look convinced. “Maybe we should just get Woolsey to do a civil ceremony.”

“No!” Lorne and Kate chorused. Jennifer blinked, surprised. Kate turned to her, “Every little girl dreams about her wedding day so you’re gonna get one damn it. It can’t be that hard. If we can save the galaxy every other week we can pan a wedding.”

“What she said,” Lorne agreed, looking across the table at the doctor, “You’re going to get whatever you want, the whole kit and kaboodle, even if we have to tie up Woolsey and throw him in a closet.”

Jennifer smiled. “Thanks guys,” she turned to Kate, “Which reminds me. I know you’ve only been here two months but we’ve had at least two meals together ever since you got here and we have movie night every week so, I guess I’d like you to be my maid of honor.”

Kate’s eyes went wide. “Really?” she asked disbelievingly.

Jennifer nodded. “Yeah, really,” she reached for her Gatorade, “I mean, other than Rodney, I spend most of my free time with either you or Evan -”

“Sometimes both,” Lorne quipped with a boyish grin, “We need to have another movie marathon.”

“We really do,” the doctor agreed, “Maybe B rated movies this time. We can start with 'Tremors',” she turned to Kate, “But anyway, I don’t have any childhood friends to ask and as much as I love him, I don’t think Evan wants to sit and talk with me about wedding dresses and what color flowers we’re gonna go with -”

“Thanks for that,” inserted Lorne.

“ – So I’m asking you,” Jennifer finished.

Kate was taken aback. “I…if you’re sure?” the blonde doctor nodded again. Kate grinned, “Okay then, yeah. I’ll do it.”

Jennifer beamed at her before turning to Evan. “And you, you’ll be a…what do you call a male bride’s maid?”

“Bride’s man?” Lorne shook his head, “Naw, that sounds wrong. I’ll just be a bride’s maid. I’m secure enough with my masculinity not to let it bother me. I’m not wearing a dress though.”

Both women laughed. “That’d be hilarious,” Kate snickered, sobering only at the scowl Evan sent her, “But wrong, very wrong.”

“Ha-ha, laugh it up missy,” Lorne glared at her, “I can’t wait to see what horrible monstrosity Doc makes _you_ wear.”

The color drained quickly from Kate's face.

“I’m not gonna make you wear an ugly dress,” Jennifer soothed, shooting a mock glare at Even the chortling Major, “And you, be nice.”

“Okay fine,” Lorne relented before his radio crackled and Sheppard’s voice sounded in his ear. “Sorry ladies, but I gotta go, duty calls,” and he left.

Kate turned to Jennifer. “So tell me,” she said, a particularly keen look on her face, “What colors are you thinking of?”

The doctor grinned. “Follow me to my office and I’ll show you what I’ve come up with so far.”

Together both women left the mess hall.

~xXx~

For once in the lives of the Atlantis expedition the stars seemed to have aligned which made planning a wedding exceedingly easy even in another galaxy. Of course, with things going so well, everyone and their mother had bets running left, right and sideways that it was only a matter of time - probably during the ceremony - until the other shoe dropped. The current favorite theory of impending doom was a wraith attack. Sergeant Philips had quite a bit of money riding on it – almost two months pay. The whole city, or at least the military, had been astonished when he’d placed so much on a single bet.

“You wanna bet _how_ much?” Atlantis’ resident bookie, Lieutenant Scotts, had exclaimed loudly when he’d heard the Sergeant’s gambit. 

But Philips seemed convinced that he was going to win so the bet had been placed and they’d all gone on their merry ways. When Lorne and Kate found out about the betting pool they'd wisely decided not to tell Jennifer. And so the planning continued.

Richard Woolsey had seemed oddly excited about the idea of a wedding in Atlantis and, so far, he’d been unusually congenial every time Jennifer or Rodney came to him with a request. He’d even let them use the gate to dial Earth so that the wedding party – Jennifer and Rodney, John and Kate who were the best man and maid of honor respectively, and Lorne – could go shopping for appropriate attire. They’d made a day of it and had had a blast helping keep Rodney occupied so that Jennifer could try on dresses. After a full day of shopping and just, in general, goofing around, they’d taken their purchases back to Atlantis where Teyla offered up the services of the best Athosian seamstresses to help with the fittings.

The next round of requests was where things got complicated.

Both Jennifer and Rodney had people back on Earth that they wanted to be able to come. Jennifer wanted her dad to walk her down the aisle and Rodney wanted his sister and her family to attend but it was his other three guest requests that stirred up the most dust; Bill Nye, Malcolm Tunney and Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Rodney had had to call in every favor he owed and promise quite a few more but in the end, O’Neil agreed to bring them in for a consult and said that if they signed the non-disclosure agreement then they could come. They had; it’d been easy really, much easier than Jack had thought it’d be. All he had had to do was mention that it had something to do with McKay and that signing it meant finding out what he'd been up to for the past ten years. The three of them had scribbled their names on the dotted lines without a second thought.

With the preparations complete and the big day now only thirty-six hours away, the SGC was set to dial in any minute now and Jennifer was, much to be expected, nervous as hell.

"Everything will be fine," Woolsey attempted to reassure her, “We’ve taken every precaution.”

“I know, I know,” Jennifer said, ringing her hands together as she paced the width of the gate room.

Lorne watched her. “Listen, doc, Woolsey’s right; everything'll be fine. The Athosians are arriving tomorrow, the guys from Earth will be here any minute and McKay’s due back from his mission in an hour. Relax.”

Jennifer took a deep breath. “I-"

At that moment, the Atlantis gate activated and anything Jennifer might have said was drowned out and put away as the three of them turned and prepared to meet the wedding guests. Dr. Beckett was the first one through followed by Jeannie, an astonished looking Caleb and an equally awed Madison. Robert Keller was next and he, too, looked very much shocked and in awe. The three scientists followed and they, more so then the others, looked like they’d died, gone to heaven and had just passed through the pearly gates. Generals Carter and O’Neil were the last to step through and, surprised, Woolsey went to greet them.

“I didn’t know you were coming Generals,” the director said, clasping his hands behind his back.

Jack grinned. “And miss this – ” he waved his hand at the gate room in general and the unusual mix of people in it, “Not a chance.”

Woolsey smirked. “It’ll be quite the affair.”

“Affair, yes, exactly the word I was gonna use. Carter!” the general turned to his wife, “We brought a camera right?”

Sam nodded, a soft smile on her face. “Yes Sir.”

Jack beamed.

Jennifer, meanwhile, had moved forwards to embrace her father. “Dad!” she exclaimed, hugging him fiercely. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

The retired army sniper held his little girl to him as though he were afraid she might vanish if he were to let go. “Of course I came, Jenny, sweetheart,” he pulled back and looked at her, “This…all of this, it’s amazing. You’re amazing.”

The doctor smiled and blushed under the praise. “I -”

“Jennifer!” Madison called, rushing towards her, “Are you really going to marry Uncle Mare? Are you gonna be my aunt!?!”

With a nod and a smile, Jennifer answered yes to both.

The little girl squealed and threw her arms around the doctor’s waist. Jennifer smiled and hugged her back while her father and Lorne chuckled. Jeannie walked over and offered up a soft smile.

“Hey Jennifer,” Rodney’s sister greeted, “You remember my husband, Caleb?”

She nodded; when Atlantis had been on Earth both she and Rodney had gone to visit his sister and her family. The two couples had actually gone on a couple of double dates. “Yeah I -”

“Excuse me!”

Everyone turned; Malcom Tunney had stepped forwards and was looking about, clearly miffed. Jack glared at him. “What?” snapped the general.

The philandering scientist glared at him. “I’m sorry,” he said without sounding sorry at all, “But I was under the impression that McKay was going to be here.”

Carson Beckett eyed the new comer not liking the tone in his voice. “You’re in another galaxy; might you want to take that in a wee bit?”

“Yes, fascinating. But I was told -”

He was cut off as the gate began to dial and Chuck’s voice yelled out over the gate room, “Unscheduled off-world activation!”

"Do we have identification?" Woolsey called up to the control room.

“Not yet!” Banks replied. A console in front of her beeped, "Hold on: it's Teyla."

"Lower the shield,” the director commanded and, because it was Sheppard’s team that was returning three hours early, Woolsey wasn’t at all surprised when, as soon as the shield lowered, a blast of green energy fire came through and struck the east wall. The guests and returning expedition members scattered and in some cases – in particular, Malcolm Tunney's – screamed. The only ones that didn’t retreat were Carter, O’Neil, Lorne and Woolsey all of whom turned towards the gate and were greeted with the arrival of a battle weary Ronon and Teyla who, as soon as they knew the shield was down, came bolting through the event horizon. Seconds later, the two natives were joined by the rest of their team the shorter of whom rounded on the other as soon as the gate closed.

“You just _had_ to touch it didn’t you?” Rodney spat, red faced and shaking with fury. “Couldn’t help yourself. The next time I tell you not to touch something and you do it anyway I swear to God I’ll shoot you myself!”

“Ah, Rodney,” John said trying, and failing, to stop his teammate’s rant. Rodney was about to get on his soap box, completely oblivious to all the extra people that were in the gate room. John tried again. “McKay!”

He was ignored as Rodney continued to rant. Looking cautiously around, John smiled weakly at the many stunned faces reflected back at him before finally finding Jennifer’s. Silently he sent her a plea for help and immediately the doctor cleared her throat and yelled Rodney’s name.

McKay stopped yelling and turned at the sound of his fiancé’s voice. Then, as he did so, he finally caught on. “Oh, I umm,” he looked first at Jennifer and then his sister who was standing nearby, arms crossed and smirking, “Hey,” he offered weakly.

“Hello to you too Rodney,” Carson grinned while Jack smirked, “Nice of you to come home early.”

Rodney glared at him.

Malcom Tunney let out a squeak. Attention turned to him.

“Oh good, you came,” Rodney said, face brightening, “I wasn’t sure you would after what happened last time I saw -”

“This is really something,” Neil said slowly, awe tinging his tone, “The things you must’ve seen…”

Rodney looked smug. “Wait ‘till you see my lab.”

All of them, even Tunney, grinned wildly; like somebody had told then that Christmas was going to come four months early.

Jack cleared his throat. “Well, this has been fun, such fun, but I’m sure we’ve all got stuff to do…forms to sign and so on,” he looked around, “Richard! How about you have one of your strapping marines show us all to our quarters. Yes?”

Woolsey nodded and indicated Major Lorne who instructed everyone to follow him. Jennifer went with her father to get him settled in before returning to the infirmary while Rodney and his team trooped up to the briefing room to talk to Woolsey. There’d be time for talk after the day’s work was done.

~xXx~

Jennifer spent the rest of the day happily showing her father around the city, explaining her life and the people in it for his benefit as they walked along. By dinner time, Robert Keller was more proud of his daughter then he could’ve ever imagined and that was saying something.

“I wish your mother was here, Jen-bug,” he grossed, watching as his grown child blushed and smiled from across the table, “She’d be so proud of you.”

“I miss her.”

“I know you do sweetheart, so do I,” Robert smiled, “But she’s watchin’, you know she is. Even all the way out here, your mama’s looking down on you. She’ll be with you tomorrow.”

His daughter offered him a watery smile before turning back to her food. A tray was set down next to her calling the doctor from her thoughts. She turned and found Kate, eyebrows raised in silent question; a tub of strawberry ice cream in her hand.

“I’m alright,” Jennifer told her, “I was just -”

“Thinking about your mom?” Kate guessed, setting the frozen treat in front of the bride-to-be. She handed Jennifer a spoon, “Well if she was anything like you then she’d be devastated that you’re not happy when you’re getting married in a little over twenty-six hours so, cheer up. Have some ice cream.”

Jennifer took up the offered tub and pulled off the lid. “Dad this is Kate, Kate this is my dad,” she dug in and took a bite. “Not that I don’t appreciate this but where’d you get it? I thought Sergeant Richards was hording it all?”

Kate winked at her.

“You picked the lock on the mini fridge she’s got in her office didn’t you?”

The super soldier grinned, spreading her hands wide. “Now Jenn, why on earth would you think I’d do something like that?”

“Because you would,” she laughed. “This is why I made you the maid of honor; you know how to take care of me.”

Kate smirked.

Robert looked her over, surprised. He wouldn’t have pegged this woman to be his daughter’s friend much less her maid of honor. She looked dangerous and was certainly well armed although apparently that didn’t mean much here. He’d been quite surprised to learn that even his daughter carried a gun with her whenever she went off world and – thanks to Colonel Sheppard and some guy named Ronon – as actually a pretty good shot. Remembering this, Robert found himself asking, “So, what do you do ‘round here, Miss Kate?”

She looked at him. “Whatever I’m told.”

The retired sniper felt an involuntary shiver go down his spine. “Ah…”

“Kate’s a special kind of solider Dad,” Jennifer explained, jumping in to save the pair of them. Kate really was absolute crap at meeting new people and _not_ scaring the shit out of them and her father, she could tell he was a bit unnerved. “Her genetic make-up’s been modified – like Captain America.”

Robert blinked. “So she’s like a super soldier?”

His daughter shook her head. “Not like, _is_. It’s actually pretty cool.”

“I can imagine.”

Kate snorted. “Yeah it’s great. I can’t get drunk and everybody’s afraid of me.”

“ _I’m_ not afraid of you,” said Jennifer, “And you _can_ get drunk, it just takes a lot.”

“How much is a lot?”

The doctor sighed. “Two bottles of whiskey, half a bottle of gin and about ten shots of Everclear.”

Her father blinked. “Damn.”

The women snickered – Kate looking smug. They were still sniggering when they heard a Scottish voice call out to them, “There you are love; we’ve been looking for you!” and then Carson and Lorne joined them. The two newcomers introduced themselves to Mr. Keller and then, when that was done, Beckett turned to Kate.

 “Well, well,” he said, looking her over, “And who might you be missy?”

“You can call me Kate.”

Carson raised an eyebrow. “Just Kate? Is there not a rank or last name in there somewhere?”

The woman stiffened where she sat. “Major Sheppard.”

“Sheppard?” the Scotsman echoed, “Any relation to -”

“Sister,” provided Lorne before turning to address the woman in question. “Maybe from now on you should just lead with that ‘cause you know as soon as you say Sheppard everybody’s gonna ask.”

“I thought we were trying to minimize my connection with John?” she reminded him, kicking at him from under the table.

The major grunted in pain as her booted foot made contact with his shin. “Right,” he managed, voice tight, “My mistake.”

Kate offered a flippant shrug. “Sorry, don’t know my own strength.”

“The hell you don’t!” he exclaimed, “If Ronon’s Hercules you’re Xena! I bet you could kick Todd’s ass.”

“Now that I’d pay to see!” Jennifer giggled, licking the spoon as she polished off the rest of her ice cream.

Her father frowned. “Who’s Todd?”

“You know there’re aliens right?” Lorne asked. Mr. Keller nodded, “Well Todd’s one of the _not_ human ones.”

Robert frowned. “What is he like a little green man or something?”

Kate snorted. “Well Todd _is_ green but I wouldn’t exactly call him _little_.”

Mr. Keller still looked confused

“He’s about six foot five, has green skin, white hair and a tattoo around his left eye,” Lorne tried to explain, “He’s _at least_ ten thousand years old, wears this long, black leather coat everywhere and is pretty much the single most terrifying thing that walks and talks. Even the other Wraith are scared of him.”

“Wraith?”

Glances were exchanged by everyone around the table before Jennifer finally looked at her dad. “It’s a little hard to explain,” she said slowly. “I’ve got some pictures of him in the infirmary I can show you. While we were on Earth, the IOA ran all sorts of tests on him and I got to keep a copy of the findings.”

“Oh, aye, I remember that,” Beckett made a face, “He wasn’t particularly pleasant.”

Lorne snorted. “Todd’s never pleasant.”

“Pictures?” asked Kate.

Jennifer nodded. “We gave him a physical and documented the anatomical differences.”

“Anything interesting?”

“Nothing major; his spine’s a lot more pronounced and – oh! He doesn’t have nipples. His ears also rest closer to his head and he can change his body temperature. I learned about that while he had cancer. I had to take it like five times before I realized he was changing it to combat the chills he was getting.”

“Bet that comes in handy,” said Kate, “Anything else?”

The doctor blushed. “Well, I did learn Todd’s got a lot of tattoos.”

Curiosity lit Kate’s face like a Christmas tree. “Oh yeah? How many and where?”

Jennifer started counting them off on her fingers. “There’s the one on his face, obviously, but then he’s also got one on his right shoulder, another across his back that goes all the way down his spine and two more on the inside of his left wrist. Those are the only ones I know of for sure but I think he’s got something on each of hips. Whatever’s there I only saw part of because, throughout the whole physical, nobody was brave enough to ask him to take his pants off.”

“Probably a good idea,” Lorne muttered quietly. He snuck a glance at Kate and noticed she seemed to be frowning. Out of all present he knew fellow major had the most reason to be curious. Todd’d seen most of her; it was only human nature for her to wonder about him. He didn’t even entirely blame her.

He was, however, glad she kept her mouth shut. 

Jennifer’s father yawned. “Well, this Todd sounds like an interesting individual that I hope I never meet,” he said while standing. “It’s late Jenny and I’m tired. You stay here with your friends and I’ll see you in the morning. My little girl’s getting married tomorrow.”

“Night dad,” Jennifer called as he father walked off. She turned back to the others, “So, movie tonight?”

Evan nodded empathically. “Yep, our last one before you’re off, riding into the sunset as the new Mrs. Doctor Rodney McKay,” this time Lorne dodged the kick Kate aimed at him. “HA!” he shouted, pointing triumphantly at her, “You missed!”

Kate tried again and then it turned into an all-out war that Jennifer and Carson stood back and watched, the former smiling. Her dad was right; she was getting married tomorrow surrounded by her family and friends. Jennifer was very ready to be a bride; morning could not come fast enough.

~xXx~

Midmorning found Jennifer seated stiffly in front of a mirror while the maid-of-honor stood behind her doing her hair.

"You're good at this," Jennifer commented as, through the reflection, she watched Kate expertly twist, tuck and pin long strands of honey blonde hair into place. "Really good."

"Yeah well,” Kate shrugged, taking a hairpin from between her teeth, “I've had it done to _me_ so many times I guess I just caught on.” She slid the pin into place and then dropped her hands to the bride’s shoulders, squeezing gently. "There," she announced, "You're done."

Turning her head first one way and then the other Jennifer admired the elegant sweep of her bangs and how Kate’d expertly tied it into the complicated looking chignon at the base of her neck. Smiling, she turned and looked up at her friend. "It's wonderful," she grossed, "Thank you."

“You're welcome," the solider smiled, holding out a hand to pull Jennifer to her feet, "Now, let's get you into that dress."

Allowing herself to be led, Atlantis' doctor followed Kate over to her bed upon which lay her wedding gown. It was a simple thing made of satin and lace that had a muted, old Hollywood kind of feel to it. At first Jennifer had wanted something frilly and with lots of bows but Kate had quickly talked her out of it. She’d pointed out that the dress should reflect the bride and since Jennifer wasn't one for frills or over-complexity her dress shouldn't be either. It had taken over an hour and countless dresses before Kate had found one at the very back of the store and demanded she try it on. The minute Jennifer saw herself in the mirror after putting it on she knew she'd found the one and had thanked Kate profusely for both her patience and her advice. Now, stepping into it for the second time, she couldn’t stop smiling as Kate carefully did up the buttons and then pronounced her done.

Jennifer was ready, oh so ready, to be a bride.

"Oh wow, Jenn,” called the groom’s sister from the doorway, entering the room with a smile. Jeannie was already dressed in the shimmery blue gown she'd bought for the occasion – the same shimmery blue as Kate’s own dress. In her efforts to get the doctor ready she hadn’t spared one moment for herself but now that McKay’s sister was here, Kate grabbed her gown off the bed and headed into the bathroom.

She was in and out in less than ten minutes.

"That was fast," Jeannie commented, impressed with the woman’s speed. "Even when Maddy was little I don't think I ever got dressed that quickly."

Kate offered a shrug as she plopped herself down on the foot of Jennifer's bed and reached for the box her shoes were in. "I've had a bit of practice,” she explained, “My Dad was the CEO of his own company and my Uncle Robert's a Politian. I've been to more charity balls and company Christmas parties then you’d care to count.”

“Her and the colonel’s dad was the founder of PSI,” Jennifer informed Jeannie while Kate got started on her own hair and make-up. “You know – the utilities company.”

“Wow,” blinked Rodney’s sister, “That’s impressive.”

“Eh,” Kate shrugged, reaching for the curling iron, “Sometimes.”

Fifteen minutes later, Teyla came in just as Kate was putting on her mascara. "I hope I am not interrupting," the Athosian greeted, turning to bestow a smile upon the glowing bride. "You look radiant Jennifer," she said, "As bright and happy as many of the stars."

Later, Jennifer would look back and remember that in all her life she'd never smiled as much as she did on this day. "Thank you."

"Wow!"

The four women turned, where Teyla had stood moments before now stood Jennifer’s father. Robert Keller was standing still, staring at his daughter as though he'd never seen anything more beautiful in his entire life. "You look just like your mother," he breathed, coming towards her to take her hands in his own. "I love you so much and am so proud of you and who you've become," a tear trickled down Jennifer's face and, reaching out, Robert wiped it away, "Jenny -"

Lorne appeared in the doorway, looking contrite. "Sorry to interrupt," he called. The moment vanished.

"Yes?" the father of the bride frowned.

The major took a step into the room, eyes searching until they landed on the woman in white. "You look gorgeous Doc," he complimented before giving a sheepish kind of grimace, "And I'm sorry to have to do this to you but we just got a radio call that requested me, Kate and Colonel Sheppard go down to the pier. I'm sure it's nothing but I've got to ask if I can borrow your maid of honor for a minute."

With a worried frown, Jennifer turned to Kate. "I guess so," she said, pulling her hands from her father's only to begin ringing them nervously. "But only if you promise to come back. I don't think I can do this without -"

"Hey, hey," Kate soothed, darting forwards to calm her friend, "Nothing's going to ruin this day for you. Like Lorne said, it's probably nothing. I'll be right back."

Feeling silly for getting worked up over what was probably something small; Jennifer watched her go before turning back to her father who dissolved quickly into reminiscing about how she'd been as a little girl and how proud of her he was. And after a few minutes, after Teyla had excused herself to go find Ronon and check on Rodney, whatever worry she'd fleetingly felt, was gone. 

~xXx~

Todd was confused.

In all the time he had associated himself with the humans of Atlantis, not once in all that time could he remember Colonel Sheppard being this displeased to see him. He was presently standing stock still in a little used area of the city trying his very best not to fidget under the intense gaze that had been directed his way since his arrival. Never mind the _reason_ for his visit, as a harbinger of ill tidings – the humans as of yet, did not know this. Clearly there was something going on within the Lantean City that he had interrupted. He could think of no other reason why his mere presence would produce such animosity.  

“Forgive my intrusion,” Todd began in what even he knew was a vain attempt to get Sheppard to stop looking at him in such a way, “But I had thought –“

With a look, John silenced the wraith whose excuses he so didn’t want to hear at the moment. Beginning to tap his foot impatiently, the irritated colonel crossed his arms and continued to glare at Todd while silently visualizing all of the ways he could get rid of him that seemed appropriate given the circumstance. He’d promised Rodney that nothing was going to go wrong and he’d be damned if he let Todd make a liar out of him. It didn’t matter to John if the wraith were coming, if Todd had found a secret stash of ZPM’s or if another one of Janis’ horrible inventions was about to explode. McKay was _going_ to have a nice wedding.

They could all die miserably afterwards.

While Sheppard continued to glower reproachfully at him, Todd took the time to study the part of the city into which he had been led, after being directed to land his dart not on a pier, but in the little-used, nearly abandoned south gateship bay. He remembered Major Lorne once referring to the location as Atlantis’ ‘jumper graveyard,’ and that the Atlantians used it to store all of the gateships that they had either crashed or simply could not fix. It had been eerie to land there and he had to admit that the directive had puzzled him. Why had they not allowed him to land his craft on one of the city’s four piers?

“I find it odd, Sheppard,” Todd began once he had grown tired of the silence, “That you would give me the direction to come here rather to meet me on the south pier as you usually do.”

John grumbled something inaudible before exhaling a terse sigh, angry eyes fixed on the intruding wraith. “We didn’t want anyone to see you,” he explained hotly, still scowling. “Their clearance isn't _that_ high.”

“They?” Todd inquired, curious as to who in Atlantis would not have been cleared to at least have _some_ knowledge of he and his kind. It seemed foolish to allow anyone that dwelled in the once lost city to remain so ill-educated past their initial arrival.

“Yes, _they_ ,” John snapped out angrily, glowering at the uninvited wraith. “We have a whole slew of people here that, until three days ago, didn’t have a clue that any of this…” he gestured widely about him at the city in general, “…was even real let alone possible. The only aliens they've seen have all been human; seeing _you_ would give them all heart attacks!”

The announcement confirmed what the wraith already suspected; he was indeed intruding upon some event and that event, whatever it may be, involved an as of yet unknown number of humans that knew nothing of the threat the city was about to face. This knowledge annoyed him. Todd did so hate explaining himself and to do so while trying to appear less threatening to the overly sheltered humans of Earth had always been a tedious task. He was not looking forwards to having to do so in the near future.

“Be that as it may,” the wraith started, crossing his arms to mimic the colonel’s posture, “I hardly care that I may appear to be somewhat alarming to whoever you are, at this moment, entertain –"

“Oh, hell, no!”

Todd came up short and, together with Colonel Sheppard, turned to face the source of the generally perturbed sounding shout. He found that it had originated from Major Lorne and noted that the human male was wearing a similar costume to the one that Sheppard had adopted. A flash of color appeared at the corner of his eye and he shifted his gaze; golden eyes landing on a second human that had traveled with the Major.

Todd felt his entire body go still.

Rather than the armor to which he had become accustomed, Katherine approached them wrapped in an elegant gown of steely blue. Her hair had been styled, she wore adornments and, although he could tell she wore cosmetics, they were not overly done. They enhanced her, everything about her current apparel enhanced her, astonishing him with the transformation from a lady of war to a female who so resembled a queen it was hard not to think of her as such.

Suddenly unsettled by his train of thought, Todd forced himself to look away. He did not care if Katherine were to notice his gaze of approval, having already confessed to her her desirability it did not matter. But Sheppard; Todd was in no mood to receive the lecture he was sure to get should the human correctly interpret _why_ his eyes were lingering on long on his sister. His shifted gaze found itself resting on Lorne and, quite dangerously, the major was glaring at him as if to say _‘I-know-what-you-are-thinking’_ and _‘you-had-better-stop’_.

So he was aware, Katherine had told him. Left no other recourse, Todd dropped his gaze to the floor.

Lorne bit the inside of his cheek. After the wraith’s little quip about taking turns again had forced him to explain the whole shower incident – minus the part about Todd telling Kate she was desirable – to Sheppard, he had so been hoping that the matter was settled. Apparently it wasn’t; not if this was how Todd reacted to seeing Kate in a dress. Lorne could only hope the colonel hadn’t noticed. If he had then, he’d have some explaining to do. If not, the longer he could put off informing his boss that Todd was attracted to his sister the better. In fact, if he could get away with _never_ having to reveal that alarming little tidbit he’d die a happy man. Just the thought of what Sheppard’s reaction would be – Todd was no use to them dead.

The silence was broken when Kate, after glancing back and forth twice between her brother and Lorne, rolled her eyes and turned towards Todd. “So,” she began, looking upwards at the wraith, “What brings you to our fair city on this day of days?”

Cocking his head to one side in silent inquiry, Todd repeated his query from earlier, “Am I interrupting something?”

Katherine’s voice was veritably dripping sarcasm. “No, not at all, whatever gave you _that_ idea?”

With a smirk the wraith dipped his head allowing his eyes to sweep languorously over her once more before settling on her face. “Your attire, for one, suggests a celebration of some kind.”

Kate sniggered and crossed her arms, completely nonplused by the expression the wraith was wearing. “How observant of you.”

To the side, John had become suddenly leery of the expression Todd was giving Kate. “Why is he looking at her like that?” he asked, leaning towards Lorne. The wraith looked hungry and John had to admit that the thought did cross his mind that it wasn’t for food.

His second in command grimaced. “You don’t wanna know.”

Deciding that sometimes ignorance really _was_ bliss, John let it go. “Right, okay,” he muttered softly before clearing his throat and calling out, “Hey Todd!” The wraith turned around and glared at him, “I realize it's a rare opportunity to see Kate all dolled up, in a dress and  heels, but we're kinda on a schedule here so the faster you tell us why you’re here the faster you can leave."

Nodding in acquiescence, Todd began to explain. "As you know, because of our…coalition, I have made it a point to review all wraith activity in the quadrant of space in which Atlantis resides - "

John waved his hands in the air impatiently. “Yes, yes we know big brother, you’re always checking up on us,” he shot the wraith an annoyed glare. “Get to the point.”

Todd took a deep breath and fought the urge he had to reach out and strangle the human who really ought to be more grateful that it in his best interest to keep such close a watch on them. They had avoided several brushes with near death in no small part due to his efforts. “The point is…” he began again, forcing the timbre of his voice to remain neutral, “…that some hours ago, my chief communications officer was able to intercept a transmission from one of our rivals detailing their intent to attempt an attack on Atlantis." He fixed Sheppard with a hard look, "Since I was in the area – "

“You decided to hop into your little dart and come warn us!” finished John with mocking jubilation, a huge, false smile plastered onto his face. “Gee, thanks Todd, how thoughtful!”

Put off by the human’s demeanor and attitude, Todd growled. “You should be grateful to me Sheppard, that I have such concern for you and yours.”

John snorted. “Oh please. You don’t care about _us_ ; you care about Atlantis and the fact that without our cooperation you and your little merry band of wraith would be screwed."

Todd growled but was unable to argue with Sheppard's statement. “Be that as it may,” he started, annoyed - as he often was - by his human ally's perceptiveness, “The fact remains that you and this city are about to be jeopardized.”

John opened his mouth. "Yeah, well -"

"Alright, that's enough," interrupted Kate, admonishingly. "You two can bicker with each other to your little heart’s content _after_ we decide what we’re going to do. Right now we've got a city full of civilians, a whole bunch of wedding guests and a bride and groom who haven’t a clue what’s going on. Let’s focus on keeping it that way and dealing with this problem. Then, when this is all over, you two can have at each other. Until then, stop arguing or I’ll shoot you both!”

Ashamed, the colonel dropped his eyes to the floor and mumbled almost non-coherently, “Yeah, okay.”

Expectantly, she turned to Todd. The wraith was looking at her oddly and with an unreadable expression on his face. “Well?” she prompted, a little impatiently, "Something you'd like to say?"

He hissed. “Was it not _your_ suggestion that I consort with you humans the next time my intelligence brought me something of value?”

Kate’s eyes narrowed. “This is not that,” she told him, “This, like John said, is you covering your ass.”

“You should still be more grateful.”

“We are grateful, grateful you told us. What we’re _un_ grateful for is your attitude. You act like coming to tell us is this big favor when it’s really not. You’re not doing this because you’re motivated to help us; you’re doing this because there’s something in it for you. There’s a difference.”

Todd snarled. “And your telling me of the Abomination’s suspected activities, was that not done for your own personal gain? Your hypocrisy -”

Kate’s eyes flashed. “I told you about Michael as a courtesy.”

“You told me in an effort to win my favor.”

“No, I _told_ you because I thought offering an olive branch might break this God awful stalemate we’ve been locked into ever since we started working with you!”

“You still did it for gain,” argued Todd, “Your hope was that in showing kindness to me I might show the same to you. And now that I have done so, you are still not satisfied. If this is how I am to be treated then why should I -”

“Then maybe you should work on your delivery because all you’ve managed to do is piss us off!”

Todd took a step towards her. “And what would you suggest I do in order to circumvent your anger in the future?”

Katherine met him halfway, raising herself up on her tiptoes in order to meet his gaze directly. “Try being less of an asshole.”

Seething with fury, Todd wanted nothing more in that moment then to push her against a wall and hold her there. Given the restrictiveness of her current attire he thought he might finally be able to convince her that he was the dominant. Realistically however, such an action would likely not translate well and Todd did not wish to test her too greatly. Katherine did say she was armed and he was not nearly foolish enough to assume that her inherent danger was negated simply because she wore a gown. The queens were deadly too, no matter what they wore, and he had every reason to think Katherine would be the same.

Instead he stood there, battling his base instincts, while off to the side, Sheppard and Lorne stared disbelievingly at the both of them. No doubt they could not understand why he had allowed her to speak to him in such a way. In hindsight, Todd was not so certain either. All he knew was that he had once again permitted Katherine to take liberties that he would have punished another for. Why did he keep doing so? He glanced down, eyes once more taking in her attire; the form fitting dress had a particularly pleasing effect on both her hips and waist. Ah yes, that was why.

“Perhaps we should agree to disagree,” he suggested, backing away from her before he could have a more physical reaction to the continual display of her willful defiance. Her aggressiveness alone made it extraordinarily difficult not to think of her as he would a female wraith but combined with her appearance, the tribulation only increased.

“Fine then,” said Kate, turning back to her brother. John blinked at her, “So, what’s the plan?”

Still in a perpetual state of shock, the colonel had a hard time talking. “Ah…I – we…” he looked helplessly at Lorne and discovered that he wasn't the only one astonished that Todd hadn’t threatened to eat her, “How long ‘till show time?”

“Huh?” the major responded, unintelligently. “What?”

John repeated himself. “How long until the wedding starts?”

Lorne looked down at his watch. “Ah… two hours.”

“Wedding?” Todd parroted, attempting to distract himself.

“Yes, a wedding,” Kate explained, glancing back at him over her shoulder. “Jennifer and Rodney are getting married today. So glad you could come even though you didn't exactly RSVP.”

The edge in her voice did absolutely nothing to help purge her from his mind. Instead it only served as a reminder of how effectively she had discharged him of any and all control over their present situation. It was a problem, one which he _still_ did not know how he wanted to correct.  After returning to his hive following their last outing, Todd had thought long and hard about how to remove her as an obstacle. With Katherine out of the way, he could reassert his authority over the humans and make it clear that he would not tolerate any further challengers.  His issue lay in his inability to correctly predict how the female would act. He did not understand her and this non-comprehension made it extraordinarily difficult to formulate a plan of action. Then, there was her affinity for acting wraith rather than human which was a separate trial in and of itself. Everything about her was convoluted and confusing and it made his head hurt. Would that he could just close his eyes and absolve himself of the complication Katherine presented.

But it was not that easy. With single-minded determination the female _made_ him respect her and it was because of this respect Todd could not simply get rid of her. As frustrating as she was and as much of a headache as she gave him, the wraith somehow knew that she was the key to winning him Atlantis’ permanent favor and commitment. Without her he would fail and so, in time, he would have to think of something.

His thoughts vanished at the sound of Sheppard’s voice, receding back into the deepest recesses of his mind as the human turned to him and asked, “So how long do ya reckon we have before your hive shows up?”

He snorted. “The ship that is upon approach is not my hive nor is it one that is controlled by-“

“It’s an expression!" John growled, exasperated.

The wraith huffed. “It is not my fault that your idioms are so non -"

“You’re arguing,” interjected Kate, arms crossing. “Don’t think that because I’m in a dress and heels I’m not armed!”

John and Todd glared at one another but then dropped their eyes, both looking pointedly at the floor. Lorne made a face and waved a hand over her.

“Where on _earth_ are you keeping a gun in _that_?”

With a saucy smile, Kate replied, “Wouldn’t you like to know."

Lorne grinned lasciviously.

“No!" John cried, cutting his XO off before the major could say anything, "No, he wouldn't," then, turning back to the wraith, he repeated, “How long?”

“By my estimate, you have less than one hour,” Todd informed him.

Lorne scowled. "Well that's not much of a time frame now is it?"

John shook his head forlornly. “No not really,” he sighed as his brain started to formulate a plan. “Okay,” he began, looking intermittingly between his sister, his major and Todd the unwelcomed wraith, “Here’s the deal. Todd, Kate’s right; you warning us and us telling you about Michael are not the same thing but sticking around to help us – that’ll win you some brownie points. So, you’re gonna go with Kate to Rodney’s lab while Lorne and I go get Ronon. Major, I need to keep McKay busy while the rest of us figure out how to get rid of this hive. Everybody got that?”

Major Lorne nodded. So did Todd. Miraculously the wraith didn’t even argue. Kate, on the other hand, saw a glaring flaw in her brother’s plan. “You want me to take him to McKay’s lab – how am I gonna do that without anybody seeing him? The transporter’s right next to the chapel and I don’t think Halling or one of the other Athosians would stop and let us explain what he’s doing here if one of them saw him.”

“Then go the long way.”

“And if somebody accidently comes walking by?”

John threw up his hands. “Then I don’t know, improvise. Lock him in a closet.”

Kate snorted and rolled her eyes when she heard Todd growl indignantly. “That was sarcasm,” she informed him, “If it comes down to it, you’re just gonna have to play nice.”

Appeased, he inclined his head.

Sheppard kept talking. “Okay listen, we’ve got less than an hour to figure out a way to save our asses without the future Mr. and Mrs. Rodney McKay finding out about it. They don’t need to know about this, not today. McKay and Keller are getting hitched come hell or high water so I need you all to do whatever you have to; _make_ it happen.”

Both visibly determined, Lorne and Kate nodded. At the same time, Todd gave a hiss of acknowledgment but otherwise offered nothing else. He would lend his assistance if only because it was unlikely he would be able to escape in enough time to avoid detection by the approaching hive. Both Sheppard and his sister were correct in their belief that his warning did not fully equate their decision to include him in their search for the Abomination. He did not, however, wish to tell them this. He did not care what Sheppard would make of it but knew that Katherine would use it to further her argument that humans and wraith were equals. _She_ might be, Todd was slowly resigning himself to that fact, but the others most certainly were not and not for even a moment would he let them think they were.

The group dissolved, each breaking off to do as they'd been directed. Lorne and John went off to find Ronon and to explain to Woolsey and the Generals what was about to go down while Kate motioned for Todd to follow her as she headed down a hallway on the roundabout way to the Canadian’s lab. They had been walking for several minutes before the tension between them grew unbearable and Todd found himself searching for anything in order to quell it. Turning to Katherine, he asked her to explain something to him trying, as he did, to sound as extemporaneous as possible.

"Explain what?" she asked, hiking her skirt as she mounted the first step of about a hundred and sixty that led up to the science labs.

“This…wedding," Todd queried following behind her, mindful of the back of her gown, "What manner of ceremony is it? What purpose does it serve?”

"It's a marriage ceremony," she replied realizing only belatedly that he might not know what a marriage was. "Marriage is –"

"I am familiar with the concept," he said, hissing contemptuously, "A type of a human union oft dictated by social convention as the only acceptable means by which to mate and produce offspring."  

Pausing once she’d reached the second landing, Kate turned back and delivered Todd a look of offended disapproval. "Well, that's one way of putting it," she scowled down at him, "Cynical much?"

The wraith was apathetic. "I am not being cynical, I am being honest."

Her eyes narrowed. "Marriage isn't only about having children. Maybe here it is what with the wraith decimating whole populations, but on my world it’s about love.”

Todd snorted. "The human concept of love is almost as arbitrary as your concept of commitment," he told her, brushing past her in order to continue climbing. “Your pledges last only as long as there is interest enough to encourage them. As soon as that interest fades, the bond is broken and your so-called marriage becomes null and void; the vows you took to care for one another into eternity cast aside as nothing but hollow words.”

“So every now and then a couple breaks up," Kate bit out, hurrying to catch up to him as quickly as her dress would allow. "It happens."

“It occurs with alarming frequency for a concept that is so oft considered to be a sacred undertaking,” Todd argued. “You humans give and take your devotions so liberally that it is a wonder you have any measure of true affection at all.”

Now _that_ made her mad. Taking the next two steps two at a time, she caught up to him and snapped, “Oh like the wraith are any better!”

Todd’s nostrils flared and he turned back, one foot on the stair above him. “When we give our vows, we cannot take them back. In choosing to bind ourselves to another, our lives become as one. To separate is to die.”

Well damn, thought Kate angrily, pissed that he’d managed to one up her again with something the wraith apparently did better. Still, if he expected his little declaration to make her back down, Todd had another thing coming. She was not going to stand there and let him mock human love like it was nothing. Love moved mountains, lunched ships and started wars; it was _not_ stupid. 

"I don't know how people do it _here_ ,” she spat bitterly, “But where _I_ come from we seal our vows with the promise to love until death do us part."

"An admirable sentiment," Todd allowed as both he and Katherine reached the top of the stairs and started down the corridor that would deliver them to Dr. McKay's lab. He glanced to her, "But it is just that, a sentiment. Your promise holds no real weight; if it did then your brother would not have been able to separate from his chosen without the consequence of death."

Damn, John had told him about Nancy. "Well that's -"

"We are never going to agree on this I do not think," he said eyeing her, wondering as he did why every discussion they seemed to have always turned into an argument. "Love, human or otherwise – and accepting family – is unsubstantial. It is as easily lost as it is given."

Opening her mouth to bite out a retort, she stopped when she realized that his last statement didn’t have the same conviction in it as the others. Instead it almost sounded like he was resigning himself to something, maybe even regretfully. She wasn’t naïve enough to think he’d care if some random human fell in and then out of love with him so _that_ meant that he wasn’t just skeptical of human love but _all_ love. And since skepticism on matters of the heart usually came from some past bad experience, Kate might have to make it a mission to go find however had screwed him over and shoot them for making him so cynical. Whoever it was, it was _their_ fault she has to deal with this.

“How would you know?” she asked, trying to draw him out, “Speaking from experience are we?”

His expression closed off and he growled making Kate realize she’d hit the nail right on the head.

“We are not discussing me,” refuted Todd tersely. “We are speaking of human affection which I have never been offered nor do I care to receive. Therefore - "

“Well then some queen somewhere must’ve really done a number on you because there’s just no other way you could possibly be this pessimistic.”

 _She was not a queen,_ Todd retorted to himself mentally before he could stop himself. He hissed angrily; he always did whenever someone mentioned his son’s motem. “I am not -”

A loud cry cut him off. “WHAT IN GOD’S NAME IS _THAT_ THING!?!?!!!!”

Startled, they both turned and looked down the corridor in the direction of the shout to where three men were towards them, shocked expressions and wide eyes fixed on Todd. Immediately Kate recognized them and narrowed her eyes. The transporter doors hissed open behind them and Teyla appeared looking flustered. She turned in the direction of the men and the labs, freezing when she saw Todd hovering at the end of the hallway in front of Rodney’s door with Kate by his side. 

She hurried to meet them. "Forgive me," she apologized, coming to join the scientists who had all stopped about six feet short of Kate and her wraith companion. "They wished to take a walk and, before I could stop them, stepped into one of the transporters. I followed but the delay -”

"It's fine,” said Kate, waving away Teyla's concern, “It’s not like you knew he was here or that you just let them wander off,” her eyes slid to the three wedding guests she was pretty sure Rodney had only invited for revenge. “You three, however, are in serious trouble.”

All three of them gulped; wide, scared eyes taking in the dangerous looking alien standing just behind the bride’s maid of honor. He looked deadly, like he was capable of killing them all in a matter of minutes and without breaking a sweat. None of them had ever seen someone so scary; he was terrifying just standing there.

“What is he?” asked Tyson bravely, being the first to speak.

Before either woman could answer, Bill Nye stated the obvious, "He’s an alien."

Kate rolled her eyes. “Gee,” she spat sarcastically, “What was your first clue?”

Tunney took a step forwards, peering at the creature who was tracking him with yellow eyes that reminded him of a cat’s. It looked male but that didn’t necessarily mean it was. "What _is_ it?” he asked.

Todd released a snort of derision and snarled which, if Kate had to guess, was his way of expressing his dislike of being called an ‘it’. She didn’t really blame him. “ _He_ is a wraith,” she said putting emphasis on the gender title.

Apparently Tunney decided to ignore her. A mistake that nearly got him killed for no sooner had he asked what _it_ was doing here, he was grabbed, dragged forwards and pulled up to within an inch of Todd’s very angry face.

“I…am not…an it!”

Terrified, the physicist began to plead. "P-please d-don’t!” he stammered, wrapping his hands around the alien’s wrist as he tried in vain to get it – him – to loosen his hold, “I’m s-sorr -”

His words were suddenly cut off when the creature was pulled off of him. Crashing to the ground in an undignified heap, Tunney looked up and watched as Major Sheppard spun the wraith around and pulled a gun – and Malcolm Tunney was _very_ interested to know from where – on him; pressing it threateningly against his sternum.

“Stand down!” Kate commanded, eyes flashing angrily as she silently dared Todd to so much as sneeze. Without taking her eyes off him she addressed Teyla. “There’s a hive coming,” she informed the other woman, “I need you to keep Jenn occupied while we figure something out.”

“Of course,” the Athosian agreed, frowning. “Perhaps, in light of this, it would be best if we -”

“No!” Kate argued, sounding determined. “Atlantis _will_ have a wedding today – the wraith can go fuck themselves.”

Teyla nodded. “I will do everything I can,” she promised before making a gesture towards the three men. “What about them?”

“Take them back to the chapel and make sure they stay there. Have one of the marines hogtie them if you have to.”

Bill Nye raised his hand. “Ah,” he questioned, “What’s a hive?”

“Nothing you would wish to see,” Teyla informed him, corralling him along with the others and effectively herding them back towards the transporter.

As their footsteps faded away, Kate blinked for the first time in minutes and relaxed her stance. “Now, let’s -”

Todd lunged for her, grabbing both wrists and squeezing until she was forced to drop her weapon. He then twisted her arms around behind her locking her hands against the small of her back so that she could not use them. Katherine was now trapped, held at bay within the protective circle of his arms. That did not stop her from struggling. Writhing her body against his she pulled, tugged and twisted making every effort to pull herself free.

His grip tightened. “Struggle all you like, Katherine,” he told her, eyes glinting with an almost savage glee as she continued to strain against him. “You are at my mercy now.”

Kate glared at him. “Let go of me!”

He hissed, constricting his arms so that her body was brought flush against his. She pushed at him with her hips, the only part of her she still had leverage on, and Todd led out a low growl of pleasure. He liked her this way. “I think not.”

As though suddenly realizing what kind of positon they were in, Kate forced her body to go still.  “What do you want?” she demanded, “Talk fast, we’ve got lives to save.”

“This will not take long,” he informed her, wishing that she would continue to struggle. He liked feeling her move against him almost as much as he liked the fact that she was powerless to get away. This was as it should be. “I simply wish to put an end to our argument.”

“What argument?”

He growled. “The one where you keep insisting that humans are equal to wraith. They are not; I have you at a distinct disadvantage because I am stronger. You cannot get away from me.”

“Just because you’re stronger doesn’t make you better,” she insisted, pushing at him with her hips even though she knew it wouldn’t do her any good. She hated being in such a vulnerable position. “Equal does not mean the same. Men and women are equal but inherently different. They can do many of the same things but are, at their most basic, separate from each other. It’s the same between humans and wraith. Why can’t you understand that?”

“Because what I have seen of humans has given me no evidence -”

“I’m trying to _give_ you evidence if you’ll just let me!” Kate screamed. “What are you so afraid of that you won’t even try -”

“I am not afraid of anything!” hissed Todd.

“Then prove it!” she challenged. “Open your mind and let yourself get to know us, get to know _me_. I promise you you’ll be surprised. You told John that there’s a lot about the wraith we don’t know and I’m willing to listen so long as _you_ are willing to do the same. Please, just let me teach you.”

Another challenge, she was offering him another challenge only this time, rather than demanding he take it, she was begging him. Something moved within him, clenching tight deep within his belly. Seeing her plead brought him no pleasure, queens did not beg. He would accept only to see her cease.

“Very well.”

Kate visibly relaxed or at least she would’ve if she weren’t still trapped by Todd. “Will you let go now?” she asked, sparing a glance up at him through her darkened lashes.

He shook his head. “There is…one more matter we must discuss,” he told her, “That is your treatment of me. You will not threaten me again Katherine. If you do, there will be consequences.”

She bit her lip. “Such as?”

“Do not tempt me,” he cautioned, growling low against the shell of her ear, “You have no idea how dangerous I can be.”

Before she could help it, a shiver ran down her spine causing her skin to pebble; the hair on the back of her neck and along her arms standing on end. Todd seemed to notice and brought himself closer as a result, something she previously hadn’t thought impossible. If John were to walk by at this exact moment he’d have a stroke.

“Todd -”

“Promise that you will make no further attempts to assail me and I will let you go.”

His breath was heavy; she could feel it at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. He was too close, _way_ too close. Her limit had finally been reached. “Let go.”

“Not until you promise.”

Her eyes closed, heart pulsating wildly as a new type of fear began to creep up the back of her spine. She fought to contain it, to keep it under control. So far the only power Todd had over her was that of a predator with his prey. She wouldn’t be responsible for giving him the power men had over women as well.

“I’ll promise if you will.”

He hissed. “And what avow would you have me make?”

Kate choked back the terror rising in the back of her throat and forced herself to answer. “If you want me to stop threatening you then you need to stop acting like a threat.”

Opening his mouth to answer, Todd stopped when his sensory pits picked up on the metallic taste of fear. He frowned, Katherine was afraid. But why? And why so suddenly? Pulling back his head, he studied her noticing as he did that her eyes were closed and she seemed to be concentrating on her breathing. Alarmed, afraid that he had inadvertently hurt her or caused her pain, Todd relaxed his hold on her wrists but only just. Then, before he could inquire as to the nature of her fear, a wave of thought suddenly crashed into him projecting so loudly he could not have blocked it out had he tried. A frightened mantra began to assault his senses, startling him with its intensity.

_…Let go, let go. Please. Please don’t. Let go, let go…_

Images beset his mind, calling into sharp focus another place, another male and Katherine locked in a cruel embrace from which she could not break free. Todd released her, jerking backwards as though burned. He did not want her to fear him like that; he did not want _any_ female to fear him like that.

“Forgive me,” he whispered, shame thickening his voice, “I…Katherine. I did not mean – ”

Kate held up a hand, stopping him. He was sorry, she knew he was sorry – it was obvious. It didn’t help her though, nothing he could say would. The damage had already been done.

“Don’t do that again.”

His regret weighed heavy; he nodded. “On my honor, you have my word.”

“Good,” replied Kate still a little shakily. She raised her eyes, “And I…I promise I won’t hurt you or attempt to hurt you again unless you give me reason to.”

With that reasoning, he could not argue. “Very well, I will try…not to give you cause.”

“Right,” she said, backing up in order to put some distance between them before taking the five steps in order to reach McKay’s Lab. “The others should be here soon,” she told him, “Let’s just -”

She trailed off, the two of them descending into awkward silence standing around McKay’s lab tables; waiting. The others could not get there soon enough.

~xXx~

“So what’s going on?”

John sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Getting Lorne and Ronon to switch places without making Rodney suspicious had actually been way easier than anticipated. It helped that McKay's mind was otherwise occupied; on any other day pulling one over on the Canadian scientist would've been like pulling teeth. Now, with Ronon standing in front of him, both bushy eyebrows raised, John didn’t quite know how best to explain the very delicate situation they now found themselves in.

In the end he opted for blunt honesty. “Todd’s here.”

The expression on the Setedan's face turned quickly from one of passive curiosity to open hostility. “What does he want?”

Taking a deep breath, Sheppard launched into the explanation. “He came to warn us – there’s a hive on its way.”

"Wasn’t that nice of him."

John snorted. “Yeah, real thoughtful,” he let out another sigh. “So, we need a plan.”

Ronon grunted. “Where’s he now?”

“With Kate on their way to Rodney’s lab,” he explained, “I had them take the long way around so nobody would see him.”

“Then let’s go,” said Ronon, starting off down the hall. “The sooner we get this done with the sooner Todd can leave.”

The colonel trotted along besides him. “I forgot how much you don’t like him,” he said almost absentmindedly.

The runner let out another grunt. “He’s wraith.”

John snorted. “Tell that to my sister,” he lamented as they walked. “I know she’s supposed to be getting close to him but…”

Ronon glanced at him. “But what?”

Sheppard cringed, his features betraying how uncomfortable he was. “She lets him get right up next to her like it’s no big deal. And Todd – for some ungodly reason he thinks it’s okay to _touch_ her.”

Ronon, who admittedly had only seen Todd and Kate together maybe once, frowned. “What do you mean? How close?”

“Like less than a foot,” John spat darkly, scowling. “And, according to Lorne, not only did she volunteer to bunk with him on the M47 mission; she had him _stand guard_ for her while she took a shower.”

The Setedan shrugged. “Kate’s Kate. She’s not afraid of him.”

“Well she should be,” said John with conviction. “You and I both know that he’s not really as nice as he pretends to be. One of these days he’s probably gonna kill us all in our sleep.”

And while Ronon personally agreed, he didn’t say anything and was quiet until they reached the lab. Todd and Kate were waiting for them, standing on either side of one of the lab’s tables. Immediately the former runner knew something was off. Todd was watching Kate and Kate was determinedly _not_ watching him. The tension between them was so thick you could’ve cut it with a knife. He wondered if Sheppard noticed it too.

He didn’t. “Alright guys,” John called, alternating his gaze between the three of them. “Anyone got any idea’s; thoughts? Anything?”

Kate shook her head.

Ronon grunted.

Frowning, he turned to Todd. “You?”

“You could move the city,” he offered. “It would not help you so much in the long run but it would confuse the hive long enough to perhaps mount some other kind of defense.”

“And what sort of defense might that be?” the colonel prompted.

Todd shrugged. “That I do not know.”

“Well what _do_ you know?”

He sighed. “I know what _I_ would do if I were in your position, but I am not sure you desire to hear it. In the past, you have commonly told me to – what is your phrase?”

“Shut up?”

“Yes, that is it.”

Sheppard scowled. “Well now I’m telling you not to shut up. Talk – if you were me how would you handle this?”

“If I were you I would raise the city’s shield after relocating it, perhaps to the other side of the planet. Then, once that was done, I would take three, perhaps four, of your jumpers and position them above the city’s former coordinates. I would cloak them so that they could not be seen and I would wait for the hive to arrive whereupon I would order an attack.”

The humans stared at him. John was completely flabbergasted. “That’s actually…a really good plan,” he squinted, “Why are you being so helpful?”

Todd crossed his arms. “Katherine insists that if I allow you the opportunity, you humans will prove yourselves to be my equals,” he explained, “Consider this your opportunity.”

“Do we only get one?” asked John, “‘Cause that’s a tall order for only one -”

“Then consider it the first of many.”

“How many?”

“As many as it takes before I consider this exercise to be a waste of my time.”

John stared at him. Granted it wasn’t anything spectacular but it was certainly a bigger leap of faith then anything _he’d_ ever gotten the wraith to make. How the ever loving fuck had his sister managed?

“So we have a plan?” asked Ronon before Sheppard could say anything. If he really wanted to know how Kate’d gotten Todd to agree to give them a trial run he could ask her later.

Colonel Sheppard nodded. “Yes, we do,” he turned to Ronon, “We should probably go tell Woolsey and the Generals what’s going on though, before we do anything. Something tells me they’d be pissed if we don’t.”

“That’s probably wise,” Kate agreed. “You go, I’ll stay here. You know, to keep Todd out of trouble.”

The wraith in question was surprised at her willingness to be left alone with him. Sheppard, on the other hand, was already halfway out the door. “Don’t let him touch anything,” he called, gesturing at Ronon to follow.

The Setedan shook his head, indicating that he would stay. Something was going on between Kate and Todd and Ronon wanted to know what it was. He could only do that if he watched them. With a shrug, Sheppard turned on his heel and left the room, already jogging back towards the transporter. Once he arrived at the chapel, he looked around, spotted Woolsey with O’Neil and Carter, and made a beeline over.

Jack knew something was off the minute he saw Sheppard’s face. “Hay-oh, hay-oh harbingers of doom,” he turned towards the oncoming colonel, “What catastrophe is about to strike?”

John frowned. “How’d you know that something’s wrong?”

The head of Homeworld Security gave the younger man a patronizing look. “Colonel,” Jack reminded him, “I’ve been in this business a while; something _always_ goes wrong. Now, spill. What are we up against?”

“There’s a hive on its way.”

Woolsey yelped. “What!?” he gasped, looking wildly between the two of them, “Now?”

Sam made a face of her own. “Hang on,” she said, looking directly at John, “How do you know that the wraith are planning an attack? Did the city’s scanners pick up on an incoming-“

“We kind of got a head’s up,” John shifted guiltily, “Todd’s here. He found out about the attack and came to warn us.”

“Well, that’s nice of him,” Jack said sardonically. He frowned, a memory crossing through his mind. He turned to his wife. “Todd’s the wraith that offered to shake your hand isn’t he?”

She nodded. “The same, Sir.”

“Ah,” Jack turned back to John. “So, where’s he now? The brig?”

John shook his head. “He, Kate and Ronon are down in Rodney’s lab which brings us to our plan,” he looked at the three of them. “We’re gonna move the city, shield it, and then take some jumpers up to meet the hive.”

Woolsey made a face. “Who came up with that?”

“Todd.”

Atlantis’ director raised an eyebrow.

John tried to explain. “Kate somehow convinced him he might be underestimating us so this is his way of letting us prove him wrong.”

Woolsey was impressed; he wouldn’t have thought she’d be able to make such progress so quickly. Her assignment was barely a month old and already she’d managed this? He wondered how she’d gotten him…

“The hive’s coming fast so if we wanna do this we’ve gotta do it now,” explained Sheppard, pulling the head of Atlantis from his thoughts. He must’ve been musing aloud because the colonel also said, “If you really wanna know you can ask her later. Maybe at the reception. Right now, I’ve gotta go move the city.”

“What do you need from us?” asked Sam.

Sheppard turned to her. “It’s only one hive so three or four jumpers oughtta be able to take it out. If you want, you can head down to Rodney’s lab so you can help us coordinate the attack.”

“Good idea, let’s do that,” agreed Jack, he frowned. “How’re we going to explain the city moving?”

“The weather?” his wife suggested. “We could tell everyone we’re moving to avoid a storm.”

It wasn’t the greatest excuse but it’d fly so while Woolsey went off to tell the guests what was about to happen, John headed towards the chair room while the two generals took the transporter down to McKay’s lab. Upon arrival they were greeted by Kate. “Generals,” she acknowledged, “I’d salute but I don’t think I can. Not properly anyway.”

General Carter waved the offer away. “Don’t worry about it,” she said, “You’re off the hook this time.”

Kate smiled a thank you.

Jack, meanwhile, was looking her up and down. “So, you’re Sheppard’s sister huh?”

She nodded. “Yes, Sir.”

“Why didn’t you say anything? We could’ve gotten you here sooner had we known.”

She shrugged. “I didn’t know he was here.”

Wanting to say more, Jack was prevented from doing so when the city’s thrusters kicked on and everything started to shake violently.

“Hang on to something!” Carter cried, grabbing on to one of the Ancient consoles bolted to the floor. Jack followed suit as did Ronon and Todd. Kate however missed her mark when Atlantis tilted slightly, sending her flailing. She stumbled backwards and tripped but didn’t fall. Something caught her and, looking down, Kate saw that it was an arm. An arm which, on further inspection, turned out to be Todd’s. He'd caught her neatly around the waist and, with a tug, pulled her securely against his chest.

Her breath caught and her body stiffened on reflex, thoughts flying back to the last time she’d been this close to him. Closing her eyes, she prayed for John to hurry the fuck up so that she could get away from him before she gave herself a stroke.

The city gave a final shudder and then a great lurch as it hit the water now safety on the other side of the planet. As soon as the floor stopped shaking everyone let go of whatever they were holding on to and Todd let go of Kate. She shoved away from him and retreated as far and as fast as she could without drawing attention. Thankfully nobody except Ronon seemed to notice and Kate wasn’t really worried about him.

“Well that was fun," Jack quipped sarcastically, "We should do this more often."

His wife made a face. Minutes later Sheppard arrived having hopped into the nearest transport and then run all of the way to the lab. He skidded to a halt in front of his sister and panted for breath. “That was the easy part,” he announced, looking around. “Now for the hard -”

“SHEPPARD!!!!”

In tandem, the six occupants of Rodney’s lab turned towards the door which framed the irate scientist himself and an apologetic looking Lorne. John eyed his second in command. “Thought you were gonna keep him busy?”

Rodney scoffed. “Oh like I was gonna believe that crap about a storm. I saw the weather forecasts this morning, there’s not cloud in the damned sky!”

John sighed. “Well we had to say something.”

The Canadian glared at him. “Yes but wh – ”

“Surely you can conceive a reason, doctor,” Todd hissed, his multi-toned voice patronizing, “Or have I once again over estimated your intelligence?”

Rodney rounded on him, eyes narrowing.  “What the hell is _he_ doing here!?!”

Todd sneered. “I came to deliver a warning. Forgive me, I did not mean to interrupt your injudicious ceremony.”

Rodney’s face turned red.  “What the hell is your problem?”

The wraith glared, a low growl emanating from his throat.

“Forgive him, he’s bitter,” Kate said which earned her the reproving gaze of the wraith in question. She eyed him, totally and completely unapologetic, “What? You are.”

“I am not,” Todd argued, “I simply do not lend credence into your human declarations of affection.”

“He thinks love is stupid and doesn’t last,” Kate elaborated, frowning.

Jack looked thoughtful. “Well, technically the divorce rate is getting higher -”

“Not helping Sir,” Carter interrupted.

The general looked sheepishly away. “Right, sorry,” then, to the room at large, “So, we got a little off topic. How’re we gonna save everybody again?”

“That’s a good question,” said Lorne, “Last heard we were still trying to figure out – ”

“Rodney?”

Everyone froze and, in unison, turned towards the door. Jennifer stood there; a worried expression on her face, the skirt of her dress gathered in her hands. Teyla and the father of the bride were hovering just behind her and as the doctor took another step into the room towards her groom, Robert Keller’s eyes widened as they landed on the alien standing in their mists.

“What the hell – ”

Preemptively Kate headed him off. “This is Todd, he’s a he and he won’t hurt you. Nothing to worry about.”

Robert eyed the alien apprehensively remembering the discussion they’d had the night before. What had Major Lorne said, something about Todd being the scariest thing to walk and talk? Standing in front of the thing, Robert didn’t think the major’s assessment was too far off. “Are you sure?” he asked, warily, “Because if he’s harmless then I’m a giraffe.”

Kate shook her head. “I didn’t say he was harmless, I said he wouldn’t hurt you,” she reiterated with a nod towards the wraith, “Generally speaking he’s on our side but if you call him an ‘it’ he might eat you.”

Robert’s eyes went wide. “Eat me?” the former sniper frowned. “Sounds like bad science fiction to me.”

“Well it’s not,” John informed him before turning to look at Rodney only to find his friend staring fixedly at the woman he wasn’t supposed to have seen yet. “McKay!”

Rodney snapped out of the daze he’d been in since seeing Jennifer appear before him, a vision in white, and fixed his eyes on his best man. “Huh? Yes, what?”

John snickered and glanced at the soon to be Mrs. McKay, “You look gorgeous by the way,” he told her before turning his attention back to Rodney, “But right now we have’ta figure out how to save the city.”

Jennifer frowned. “Save the city?” her eyes slide to Todd and then back to Sheppard, “The wraith are coming?”

He nodded.

“What’re we -”

“The current plan, now that the city has been relocated, is to engage the shield and then meet the hive with a squadron of jumpers which will work in conjunction to destroy it.”

Rodney blinked. “When did we put Todd in charge?” he wanted to know, frowning. “For that matter, why is he even still here? Doesn’t he usually just tell us we’re all about to die and then leave?”

John rolled his eyes. “He’s trying something new,” he explained. “Since we were nice and told him about Michael, he decided to stay and help us out.”

“Oh,” Rodney turned to him, “Ah, thank you.”

Todd let out a low hiss and bowed his head.

Lorne frowned. “What I don’t get it why send only one hive?” he looked around, “Does any of this feel off to you?”

“A little,” admitted Kate, “Now that you mention it.”

“More than likely it is a test,” said Todd. “The queens are aware of your particular proclivity for surviving their attacks, even when the odds are against you. Why send a fleet when one hive will do?”

“They’re trying to see if they can catch us off guard,” Kate reasoned, it actually wasn’t that bad a strategy. “They’re not gonna risk more then they’re willing to loose which is why they just sent one. If we destroy it they’ll know and they’ll wait to try again. But if we don’t -”

“Then they will know that you are vulnerable.”

Everyone took a moment in order to let that sink in then Lorne turned to Sheppard. “In addition to jumpers maybe we can put Beckett in the chair and have him fire on them from down here. You know, after we’ve done some damage?”

The colonel was nodding. “That might help; good thinking Lorne.”

“I try.”

“Right,” he looked around the room, eyes landing on General O’Neil. “Think you can fly a jumper in combat?”

Jack smirked. “I think I can figure it out.”

“I’ll go with you Sir,” Carter chimed in, unwilling to just let her husband go by himself. He hadn’t flown a combat mission since being promoted to general; he’d need a spotter and maybe some help with some of the controls. His gene wasn’t nearly as strong as the Lorne’s, Kate’s or Sheppard’s.

“Me too,” Rodney piped in, “I mean in my own jumper. Not with -”

“Fuck that, you’re staying here!” Sheppard argued, “It’ll be me, the general, Kate and Lorne. That’s more than enough.”

“Why can’t I come?” demanded Rodney. “It’s my wedding day, I should be allowed to -”

“Exactly, it’s your _wedding_ day,” John stressed, “You and your lovely bride are off duty for the next twenty-four hours. Just…let us save the day for once. Consider it a wedding present.”

Rodney stared at him. “I…Sheppard, you don’t have to -”

“Yes I do,” John said, a hard edge to his voice. “Besides, I’m the best man; it’s my job to handle stuff like this.”

His teammate shook his head. “It’s your job to make sure I don’t trip on my way down the aisle not run off on some half-baked mission to save the city!”

John smirked. “Aw, sucks McKay, it almost sounds like you’re worried about me.”

A vein pulsed in Rodney’s forehead. “Of course I’m worried about you, you’re the closest thing to a brother I’ve ever had. I can’t _do_ this without you!!”

John stared at him, stunned silence pressing at him from all sides. “R-Rodney I…”

The scientist stood there and fumed, calming down only when he felt Jennifer slide her hand up his arm.

“Rodney, sweetie,” he turned to her, her hazel eyes imploring him, “John’s almost as good at beating the odds as you are. Go let him save the day; it’s what he’s good at.”

“But what if -”

“I promise I won’t die,” John tired reassuring him, “We’ll go take care of this and then, when we come back, we’ll get the two of you married and then we’ll have cake. That’s how it’s gonna go.”

Rodney deflated. “Fine,” he looked at Sheppard, “If you get your ass blown out of the sky I swear I’ll never listen to you again.”

“Noted,” John said turning round to face the others. “Okay everybody, let’s go save the day.”

There were nods all around as the group broke apart Ronon and Teyla followed the bride, her father, and Rodney back towards Atlantis’ chapel while John, Lorne, Kate, both generals, and Todd headed towards the nearest jumper bay. Originally Todd was going to go with Lorne but after Kate picked out her jumper she heard the wraith board behind her. As they waited in queue to leave the jumper bay, Kate handed turned to him and asked, “What’re you doing?”

Dropping down into the co-piolet’s seat, Todd leaned back and sighed. “I thought I might lend you my assistance,” he explained. “I am…quite familiar with which points on a hive, when hit, cause the most damage.”

“So go tell Lorne.”

His expression clouded with regret as his shoulders fell. “Katherine,” he spoke softly, “I did not mean to frighten you, truly. Not in that way.”

Kate’s hands tightened reflexively on the controls while her eyes stared straight ahead. “It’s fine,” she lied.

Todd snorted. “I do not think even you believe that,” he studied her, allowing his eyes to travel down her frame languidly. “This is not a hallow apology,” he told her, “I am sorry.”

Over the radio John gave the okay and they took off. “I’ll get over it,” she said, pointing the nose of her jumper skywards. “Just, give me a while okay?”

He nodded and turned with his chair until he was facing forwards.

In silence they waited. Their time was running out and when the hour that Todd had told them they had was up, the hive dropped out of hyperspace right in front of them.

“It’s show time,” came John’s voice came over the radios, “Let’s get this party started.”

“Your definition of a party is bothersome Sheppard,” Todd replied causing Katherine to snicker. He decided to take that as a positive sign towards their reconciliation.

A loud scoff echoed over the open channel followed by the colonel’s command that Todd stay off the radio.

“Unless he’s got something useful to say,” Jack amended, “Like, oh say, where to hit.”

“Why do you think I am here?” asked Todd. “That is the sole reason I came.”

“Very good then.”

Sheppard groaned. “Can we please just focus on the hive?” he begged.

Lorne piped in. “Yeah, what’s it doing?”

“It looks confused,” said Sam, “The city’s not where it’s supposed to be and it’s like they’re not sure what to do.”

“Then perhaps we should use their distraction to our advantage,” Todd suggested, “Or would you rather sit here and wait for them to try broadening their scans?”

“Nope, I think we’re gonna go with option A,” John replied, the first to break formation and head towards the hive. “Everybody aim for whatever looks like it’ll cause the most damage.”

“Target the engines and secondary population thrusters,” Todd instructed Katherine, “Each will generate secondary explosions on multiple levels thus increasing damage.”

Nodding, Kate maneuvered through the wave of darts that the hive had deployed as soon as the first volley of drone fire hit it. All four jumpers were still invisible but it was fairly easy for the darts to locate them based off of the general direction of their weapons fire. Guiding her jumper closer to the enemy ship, Kate took aim and then released her drones. They hit and, just as Todd had said they would, a wave of secondary and even tertiary explosions rocked through the wraith ship.

“Nice job Katie!” John exclaimed, “You found the sweet spot!”

“Thank Todd, not me, he told me where to hit,” was her reply as she dodged darts and flew around the broad side of the hive to fire on the engines on the port side as well.

Her radio crackled. “It’ll be a cold day in hell before I thank Todd for anything,” John bit out tersely.

The wraith growled. “The feeling in mutual Sheppard, I assure you.”

“Good to know.”

Jack’s voice sounded next. “Are they always like this?”

“Near as I can figure yes,” Kate replied.

“It’s an ongoing source of amusement,” Lorne added, swerving to avoid an oncoming dart.

“I’ll bet,” Jack muttered then, “Hey guys, not that this hasn’t been a blast, but we should probably wrap this up. Who’s making the house call?”

“I got it,” John said then, switching over his radio channel he placed a call to the city. “Beckett this is Sheppard please respond.”

There was a moment of static and then Carson’s voice came over the radio. “Aye, I’m here colonel,” he said, “Are ye ready?”

“Whenever you are doc. Fire at will.”

“Aye, you might want to give it some space.”

“Hear that everyone, break engagement,” John instructed, pulling back on the jumpers flight controls and putting distance between himself and the imminently doomed hive. For once it looked like plan A was actually gonna work.

The other jumpers followed suit and then, before the hive could recover and follow them, a bead of drones shot up from the planet’s surface and, seconds later, the hive exploded. The four jumpers un-cloaked and hovered on the edge of the battlefield just long enough to take it in. Without anything going wrong, without having to fall back on plan B, without any of them dying or being shot out of the sky and without any damage to any of the jumpers they’d won. That had never happened before.

Now, if they could just get through the wedding…

~xXx~

The only hiccup – not unsurprisingly – was explaining Todd. The Athosian children had screamed bloody murder as soon as they saw him while the adults had all immediately reached for their weapons. Teyla had done her part and leapt to Todd’s defense positioning herself between the wraith and her people all while uttering various assurances that he wasn’t going to kill them all.

“Todd is not like most wraith,” Teyla hastened to explain, holding out a hand beseechingly to Halling, Kanaan, Jinto and the others, “He will not harm you.”

“I know you trust the Atlantians Teyla, but even you must see their folly in this,” Halling argued, glaring at the creature that hovered behind her like a wicked shadow, “You cannot trust the wraith.”

Teyla’s eyes flashed. “I trust _this_ wraith,” she avowed, the tone in her voice surprising everyone not least of which the creature she was protecting, “He has saved my life more than once and he has just spent the last two hours helping to save the lives of all that reside in this city. If you cannot accept that then you are blind as well as foolish. Trust me when I say you do not wish him as your enemy.”

In the end there was a stare off but, eventually, Halling and the others backed down. Teyla turned to Todd; he looked down on her.

"My gratitude, Teyla, for your trust."

The petite woman accepted the wraith's thanks with a nod whilst behind her, her mentor could not help but let loose a gasp of surprise. Todd inclined his head to the former and ignored the latter moving to the place he was supposed to stand as indicated by Sheppard. Apparently instead of simply watching the proceedings he was now a participant. McKay had muttered something about how it was to thank him for coming to warn them, the wraith had not truly been paying attention. All he knew was that, as the ceremony was begun, he himself was left standing at the very end of the platform upon which Dr. McKay and the one called O'Neil stood. Lorne stood next to him but atop the platform like a silent sentry. A guard. Todd was a part and yet separate of the whole; the only reason the wraith had agreed to stay was to assuage his own curiosity.

A soft melody began to play and Todd's eyes turned forwards, down the aisle that divided the two sections of chairs as the first of what he saw were pairs, one male and one female, began to come towards the end. The first pair consisted of Teyla and the runner neither of which, he noted, were wearing the same garments as were the other pairs. Their clothes, Todd realized, were both their own forms of formal wear native to their respective cultures. Teyla wore a dress with wide bell sleeves in a light blue color whilst the runner wore a type of military dress uniform that was different than those worn by the officers of Atlantis and yet similar in many ways. Next after them came a female Todd vaguely recognized as McKay's sister, the one he had once been prevailed upon to help save, and the doctor he had been introduced to while Atlantis had still been on Earth the year past as Carson Beckett. Behind them came both Sheppard siblings and here Todd could not help but let his gaze linger. The gown she wore truly did marvelous things for Katherine's figure and try though he might the wraith could not make himself look away. He watched her progress down the aisle, eyes tracing every step, until she reached the end and, like the pairs before her, stepped to the right side of the platform just as Sheppard stepped to the left. The sequence now went as thus, on the left side nearest the center Katherine, McKay's sister then Teyla while, to the left McKay, Sheppard, Carson and then the runner. There was importance in this strategic placing of individuals but what, exactly that importance was Todd did not know. After Katherine and Sheppard had taken their places all eyes including his traveled back down the aisle to where Jennifer and the male he knew was her sire now stood. A new melody began to play and, slowly, this last pair began to come towards the others.

McKay, Todd noticed, could not look away from the female that would, in short order, be bound to him as mate. _May he stay so enthralled with her_ , the wraith thought to himself. It was the closest to a wish of fortune for the couple as he was ever likely to get. And never would he say it aloud.

When Jennifer and her sire reached the point where the other pairs had split to go their separate ways, McKay stepped down from the platform and stood before the female he was to take as his mate.

General O'Neil smirked. Now came the fun part. "Who gives this woman to this man?"

"I do," Robert Keller intoned, lifting his daughter's hand first to kiss it before handing over his baby girl to the man that he knew would love her until the day he died. "Take care of her, Doctor."

"I will," Rodney promised, holding Jennifer's hand tightly in his as, together, they turned to face General O'Neil.

"Ladies and gentlemen…and guests," Jack said, adding that last part for the wraith's benefit as he doubted very much Todd could be described as a gentlemen no matter how loosely the term was applied, "We are gathered here today to witness the joining of these two individuals, Rodney McKay and Jennifer Keller, in the bonds of holy matrimony. Now I could go on and talk about how marriage is sacred and all that but in the interest of getting through this before something bad happens we're gonna skip all that."

Light laughter met the general's words including amused chuckles from both the bride and groom. Jack cracked a smile himself before going on. "Do you, Meredith Rodney McKay take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, to love, honor and cherish, in sickness and in health from this day until death does part you?"

With more conviction then Rodney had ever felt before in his life he replied, "I do."

Jack turned to Jennifer. "And do you, Jennifer Ellen Keller, take this man, this very flawed man, this very arrogant, condescending…"

Jennifer cleared her throat while the crowd of people - everyone except Todd - giggled good naturedly. Jack smirked, "Sorry, got a bit off track. Do you Jennifer take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, to love, honor and cherish, in sickness and in health from this day until death does part you?"

Jennifer smiled. "I do."

"Then by the power invested in me by the United State's Air force, the SGC, the IOA and Earth I now pronounce you husband and wife. I'm not gonna ask if anyone objects because, let's face it McKay, nobody else would take you, so congratulates, kiss your bride and let's go have cake!"

It was to the screams and cheers of half the military contingent of Atlantis, the entire medical department and the wolf whistles of Lorne, Sheppard and Ronon that Rodney stepped forwards and kissed his new wife for all he was worth. The cheers got louder followed by several, "Go Rodney's!" before he pulled back and looked Jennifer in the eye.

"I love you."

His wife smiled at him. "I love you too," then, linking her arm with his, the new couple walked back down the aisle, leading the way towards the banquet hall that had been renovated and refurbished especially for their wedding. It was on one of the lower levels of the city so there was a bit of a procession from the chapel to the transporter and then, finally to their destination. When they arrived the first thing they did was cut the cake while everybody took tons of pictures and then Sheppard found a microphone and announced that it was time to get the party started.

Twenty minutes later the bride and groom had had their first dance - Rodney had only tripped once - Jennifer had danced with her father and everyone in the wedding party had had their dances with everyone else. John and Kate had wowed everybody when they paired up and performed a very complicated looking swing dance routine to the tune of _'Sing, Sing, Sing'_. Afterwards, a breathless Kate begged off and headed over to the refreshment tables while John grabbed Jeannie and began twirling the groom's sister around much to the amusement of both her husband and her daughter.

"I did not know your brother was so skilled."

Kate started and looked to her left, espying the almost forgotten form of their uninvited wedding guest. "I thought you'd be gone by now," she told him honestly.

Todd shrugged. "I will admit, I find myself curious. The ceremony was…not what I expected."

"Is that good or bad?"

"Good I think," he admitted, eyes sliding back to the various couples now whirling about, back and forth, before him. "The vows they spoke; they are not very different than our own."

Seizing upon the opportunity to extract information as per her assignment, she asked, "What do the wraith say?"

Todd looked at her. "We also vow to honor and cherish but we do so with the pledge of one heart, one life, forever into eternity, never ending, until the stars fade from the sky."

Kate's breathing hitched and she felt her pulse quicken. Damn but the wraith never did anything by half. “Wow,” she whispered, awed.

With a low hum, Todd’s eyes returned to the dance floor and the swaying couples on it spotting the newly bonded pair amongst them easily. "Do you believe they will stay together, that their vows will remain unbroken?"

Following his gaze, Kate’s own eyes tracked the couple as McKay leaned in to steal a kiss from his new wife. "Yeah," she said, her voice soft, "I think they will. Not everyone gets their happy ending, I didn't, John didn't, but I think they will. They're lucky."

Surprised, Todd's gaze slid left. "You have been – what is your word, married?"

She shook her head. "No, but it was a near miss. His name was Travers, Todd Travers, and I was gonna marry him for all the wrong reasons but mainly because my father wanted me too. He approved of him but, when it came down to it, I just couldn't do it. I left him, I waited until the last possible moment and left him at the altar but I still left. I don't regret it."

Todd looked down on her. He really should not care but, despite knowing this he still found himself asking, "Was he unsuitable?"

Grey eyes flicked upwards and met his stare. "I was a means to an end, a possession. A way to bring our families together so that our fathers could merge their companies and make millions."

The wraith frowned. "And you? What were your feelings for him?"

Kate sighed. "I loved him once, when I was a little girl and didn't know any better. The first time I found out he'd cheated on me - was unfaithful," she clarified, "…it broke my heart."

"The first time?" Todd queried, taken aback. He would not have thought Katherine would have tolerated an unfaithful mate. It was not consistent with her character. "You remained?"

She snorted. "My father was quick to remind me that men from powerful families aren't expected to stay true to their wives. It was something I'd just have to learn to accept."

"I do not think I would have liked your sire."

Kate was quick to agree. "He was a pompous ass; you probably would’ve eaten him."

Todd snorted in amusement and returned to watching the dancers. Eventually the melody came to a close and the couples upon the floor parted, seeking respite during the intermission. He watched as Sheppard released Dr. McKay’s sister and began to search the crowd, hissing when the human’s eyes landed on him; mouth twisting into a wide, malevolent smile.

“Todd!” he called exuberantly, trotting over. “You’re still here. I’d’ve thought you would’ve left.”

Suddenly, Todd regretted lingering. “I will leave at present Sheppard, now that my curiosity has been -”

“No, wait, hold up; you can’t leave yet!”

The wraith blinked. “I cannot?”

Sheppard shook his head. “Nope.”

Kate didn’t like her brother’s expression, he was up to something. “John -”

Todd wasn’t too fond of it either. “Colonel -”

Ignoring them both, John planted himself in front of him and fixed him with a look. “See, there’s this tradition,” he began, crossing his arms as if to say _‘you’re-not-getting-out-of-whatever-I’m-about-to-say’_ , “Everyone’s supposed to dance at a wedding. Everyone, at least once. You’re due.”

If it were possible for a wraith to loose color, Todd would have. “Sheppard -”

Kate frowned. “I’m not sure he’d be very comfortable with -”

“It’s just a dance,” he pushed. “One dance and then you’re free to go. It’ll be fun.”

“Your definition of that word and my definition of that word vary greatly,” Todd growled, fixing the human with a look of supreme displeasure. “Why is it that at every turn you continuously insist I join you in such trifling pursuits of frivolity? Where is your gain?”

“No reason really,” he shrugged, “‘Cept every once in a while it’d be nice to see you actually relax. You’re always so intense, like you’ve got a stick shoved sideways up your ass. Do you even know how to turn off?”

A loud snarl previewed Todd’s response. “I have better things to do then -”

“Oh for the love of Jesus fucking Christ!” yelled Kate, cutting in before either he or her brother could turn this argument into a full-fledged fight. Like hell was she gonna let John’s idiocy or Todd’s pigheaded stubbornness ruin Jennifer and McKay’s reception. She rounded on Todd. “Let’s go,” she ordered.

He blinked at her. “Go where?”

Surprised by her outburst, John looked at her too. “Yeah, what’re -”

“Do you want him to dance or not!?”

He nodded. “Yeah, but -”

“Then shut up!” she growled, turning on her heel in order to make her way to the edge of the dance floor. “Todd, come!” she called upon reaching it and, much to her surprise and the surprise of several on-lookers, the wraith obeyed.

“Hand,” she instructed once he was in front of her. Todd didn’t move, in fact if she’d taken the time to actually look, she’d have noticed that he’d gone absolutely still. Exasperated and annoyed at the sheer stupidity of the situation in which she found herself, Kate let out a low growl before taking matters into her own hands. Grabbing Todd’s left hand, she entwined it with hers before reaching out for his other. She heard him draw a quick breath as her fingers wrapped around the wrist of his feeding hand, releasing it in a long hiss as she guided the hand to the proper position at her waist.

She turned to John. “Music would be helpful,” she barked.

Her brother stared at her, totally and unabashedly stupefied. “I…right,” he scurried away, heading over to Lt. Jamison who was acting as DJ. A slow waltz started to drift down from the speakers and on the second bar, Kate turned to Todd.

“Ready?”

The wraith could only stare, trying in vain to keep his temperature and heart palpitations in check as he had been ever since Katherine had settled his feeding had at her waist. It was not the placement that caused him distress so much as the appendage itself. His race did not often touch with their feeding hands because even the slightest of contacts could illicit sensations better left unexplored. Todd could all but taste her even through the silk of her gown and, as a result, could barely contain the compulsion to grip more tightly and draw her to him as much as he was able. Not to consume or to terrorize, hunger and predatory instinct were not the emotions excited by Katherine’s innocuous touch. No, what had awakened in him was something much more dangerous, much more deadly.

He held back; frightened by his own response. He should leave, pull away; end this farce before more damage could be done. But he could not. Held in thrall, he could not move. She had commanded him to come to her and so he had because in that moment he could not have disobeyed and he stayed because, as unintended as the feelings were, he did not wish the sensations invoked by her touch to end. So starved was he of contact he did not even care that she was human.

When Todd didn’t answer, Kate took the first step and then another and another, leading him in a small circle away from the other dancers while counting out the rhythm in a quiet whisper, "One, two, three, one, two, three…" Vaguely she hoped somebody got a picture of this because dancing with Todd the wraith wasn’t something she planned on ever doing again.

Over by the punch bowl, Ronon watched the pair of them through shrewd, unforgiving eyes. Nobody else seemed to be paying much attention to them with the exception of Sheppard who was recording the whole thing on something called a video camera. Eventually though even he got bored and turned away leaving Ronon the only observer. His eyes narrowed when he saw Todd pull on her, tightening his grip on her waist, while Kate pushed back – maintaining their distance. Ronon felt himself relax; pleased with the knowledge that apparently even Sheppard’s sister had her limits.

And then it happened again.

As Kate and Todd rounded the dancefloor for the third time, Ronon watched as the wraith once more tried to draw her in; reflexively tightening his hold and pulling in an effort to bring her closer. Again Kate resisted, pushing back much more forcefully this time as compared to last. Ronon saw this, saw the momentary flash of fear flit across her face followed almost instantly by a look of regret from Todd. He slackened his hold, backing up almost apologetically.

Well that was interesting. The former runner had been observing the wraith for nearly a decade and this was the first time he’d ever seen one look even remotely sorry. Granted Todd displayed a wider range of emotions then most wraith but still, genuine regret wasn’t something Ronon would’ve ever thought him capable of feeling much less showing. It was unnerving how many conceptions about the wraith Todd challenged. He wasn’t like the others and even though Ronon hated to admit it; that much was obvious. He was reasonable, mostly reliable and generally easier to converse with then the majority of his brethren.  Of course, that didn’t mean Ronon liked him – in fact, if anything, it made him like him less. As a result of continuous interactions, there was now a moment of hesitation every time Ronon thought about shooting him. It was unsettling; everything about their dealings with Todd was unsettling. The longer they knew him, the more similarities they found, the harder it got to hate him. And now, seeing him express regret – watching his face as yellow eyes filled with remorse tried in vain to connect with Kate’s, to convey his apology for whatever he had done – Ronon wondered for the first time what would happen if they ever stopped.

His thoughts came to an abrupt end as the song ended, its last note hanging stubbornly in the air just as Todd clung stubbornly to Kate; almost refusing to let go. They were talking now and while Ronon was too far away to hear what was being said he was close enough to get the general impression. Todd was apologizing, profusely, and Kate’s jaw was set – neither one of them paying any attention to what was happening around them. The Athosians were staring at them in shock while further on, Woolsey looked almost smug. A surprised gasp escaped the majority of the guests when, after releasing her hand and backing away, the wraith offered a polite bow  not unlike those he had given Teyla while she’d been pretending to be his queen. From across the room Ronon saw Todd and Kate’s eyes lock and watched as the tension seemed to bleed from her shoulders. Only after she’d given him a nod did the wraith straighten his spine, turn, and take his leave.

How very interesting, Ronon thought, observing Kate as she went to join her brother and presumably berate him for making her dance with Todd in the first place. And while the Sheppard siblings argued, and everyone around them who was listening sniggered, Ronon put his thoughts on Todd aside and went in search of Jennifer. 

He owed the bride a dance.                


	5. Friends and Enemies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Todd is bait, Kate is cold and Lt. Ford makes a comeback. Oh, and Strauss is still an asshole...

**Episode V: Friends and Enemies**

“Feed.”

“No.”

_“Feed.”_

“I will not.”

“You will, I’ll shoot you if you don’t.”

“You cannot make me.”

“Watch me!”

“This is insane. Ford, think about what you’re doing -”

“Shut up Sheppard!”

“…Todd…”

“Kath-er-ine…”

“I trust you.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Ford, what are you doing? Ford wait, no! Don -”

 _“_ Forgive me…”

“Ford! Don’t, Ford -”

_BANG!_

Kate screamed.

~xXx~

**_Thirty-Six hours earlier…_ **

The offices of Patrick Sheppard Industries were some of the nicest in the world. Huge windows let in an abundance of light and the postmodern structure came complete with white tile flooring on all three of its levels, wood cabinetry in its offices and leather chairs behind all its desks. Yes it was an impressive building but right now, David hated it.

Originally, David had wanted to be a lawyer. He’d studied cooperate law in college and had only taken the internship at his father’s company during the summers to help cover his living expenses. Patrick Sheppard might’ve paid for his children’s education but was a firm believer in self-reliance and had a saying: earn your life because if it was worth having, it was worth working for. Given the frequency at which his father said this, David had always thought it odd he’d been so surprised when neither John or Kate had wanted the lives he’d wanted to give them. Instead, the pair of them had wanted to do things their way and unlike David, had gone out and done exactly that leaving him stuck here; bound by a sense of duty he couldn’t escape. It was his own damned fault of course but the fact remained, he envied his siblings their freedom because he didn’t have it.

Maybe that was why he’d decided to be difficult.

Two weeks ago he’d been contacted by an Air Force General who was apparently the head of some State department David had never heard of called Homeworld Security. The General, O’Neill, had then gone on to explain how both his brother _and_ his sister worked for him and that they were a part of some secret project that helped protect the whole world. David was admittedly skeptical of that last part but he knew whatever John did it wasn’t flying helicopters and as for Kate, the eldest Sheppard had no clue what sorts of things _she_ got up to only that they were dangerous, classified and had something to do with intelligence. So, he’d let the General keep talking and eventually it got around to some agency was trying to cut them off and they needed funding. The CEO had nearly fallen out of his chair when O’Neill finally got around to telling him Kate’s proposal which, apparently, John had already agreed to. That told him that whatever they were into they were together (which was news to him since last _he’d_ heard, John was in Antarctica and Kate was stationed at NORAD) while he was stuck here. He’d told the General no, he wouldn’t cooperate not because he was trying to hold on to his control of the company but because by being difficult he might actually, maybe get told what John and Kate really did.

And his persistence had paid off because they, the General and some guy named Woolsey were due to arrive for a meeting any minute now. David looked at the clock. Five minutes. He sighed, got up from his desk and started to pace.

The last time he’d seen John, his brother had told him he was a Colonel and in command of the military presence at his base. The elder Sheppard had been surprised but happy, and proud, of his brother’s accomplishment. Their dad had given John the lecture to end all lectures when he’d come back from Afghanistan with a black mark for not following orders. David had been angry too right up until one of John’s squad mates had told him what he’d done and why he’d done it. Then David had been proud of him, and envious that he’d had the balls to go against what he was being told to do in order to do what was right. David himself had never been good at that which, consequently, was why he was now the CEO of PSI.

David had a problem saying no.

There was a knock on his door which startled him and he whirled around, trying not to look flustered, to find Jody standing just inside his office.

“Yes?” he squeaked.

His secretary gave him an indulgent smile. She’d been with the company for as long as David could remember and when Dad died, she’d stayed on in order to take care of him. In all honestly, Jody Parks had been more like a mother to him than his own. “They’re here,” she said gently.

David swallowed. “Right. S-send them in.”

Backing out of the room, Jody closed the door behind her only to open it again, wider this time, in order to make way for the group of people trailing behind her. He saw the General first followed by who he guessed was Mr. Woolsey and then a man and woman in military dress. He’d actually seen John in blues not so long ago so all the medals and ribbons he wore weren’t really a shock. Kate’s ribbon rack, on the other hand, gave him pause but not nearly as much as did the look on her face. Since when was his baby sister so serious looking, like she could spontaneously murder him with a fork?

Clearing his throat, David forced himself to look away and shake hands with the General. “Nice to see you again,” he said cordially.

“Same to you,” the man replied, giving the offered hand a firm shake before turning to introduce Mr. Woolsey.

“A pleasure,” said David, repeating the exchange before ending up face to face with John. “John.”

“David.”

Awkwardly, the two bothers shook hands and then moved in to give each other a one-armed hug. Now it was Kate’s turn and David hesitated. It was a little-known fact that in their brother’s absence the two of them had grown closer – that in the past seven years David had finally gotten to be the big brother she came to reply on, her confidant and a friend. Growing up, opportunities to bond with her had been scare. There was a fifteen-year difference between them and John, ever the more protective Sheppard sibling, hadn’t really allowed anyone to get near her; not even dad. David wasn’t looking forwards to explaining to how things had changed, that just because he was back didn’t mean David was just going to disappear. Kate had two brothers and it was high time the younger of the two got used to that idea but now wasn’t the time to go into that.

He extended his hand; John sighed and rolled his eyes. “Oh, just hug her and get it over with,” he admonished. “Kate and I can only be here for an hour and then it’s back to base. It’s a long ass trip so the sooner we get this done the better.”

Grateful for the reprieve, David did as he was told; giving her a quick hug that was maybe a bit tighter than necessary before letting go and offering her a chair. She took the one next to John across from Woolsey, pulling David down next to her as she turned expectedly towards General O’Neill.

“Let’s get this started shall we?”

Jack handed David a stack of papers.  “What’s this?” the CEO asked.

“Standard nondisclosure agreement,” came the crisp reply.

He frowned. “I’ll have my lawyers -”

“No,” Kate cut in. “No lawyers. What we’re about to tell you, nobody else can know so you either sign it and we get to tell you what we do or you don’t and we walk out that door right now. Your choice.”

David squinted at her. “Since when did you get so authoritarian?”

His sister smirked. “Sign the damned thing and I’ll tell you.”

With a sigh he looked down at the thick file and weighed his options. It was against his nature to just sign it. Dad and eight years of law school had taught him to never just sign anything without letting a team of lawyers look over it first. The look on his sister’s face however, told him plain as day Dad’s way wasn’t the way it was going to go. If he didn’t sign she’d do exactly what she threatened and walk right back out the door. John too. And since it’d been nearly eight years since the three of them were in the same room together, David wasn’t about to let that happen. If signing his name on something he hadn’t read would keep them there he’d do it in a heartbeat. For the next twelve seconds the room was silent except for the scratching of his pen whereupon the file was taken away and replaced by a thick, army green folder stamped with the words _‘Classified Top Secret’_ in bold across its front. Heart racing, David glanced first towards his sister and then his brother before flipping back the cover and beginning to read.

He felt his eyes widen at about the fourth paragraph of the first page. Space travel, technology not of this Earth, exploration to other planets – other galaxies.

Aliens.

If David hadn’t already been sitting down he probably would’ve fallen over. And of course, not every alien race they met was friendly. Page after page was littered with descriptions of space battles and several near misses where if things hadn’t gone the right way everyone on Earth might’ve been killed. Suddenly the General’s comment about John and Kate saving the world seemed a whole lot more credible and, in the wake of that fact, David found himself awed.

“So, what do you need from me?” he asked at length, have reached about the middle of the file. He looked up, eyes sliding over both General O’Neill and Mr. Woolsey, “You said something about needing PSI funding but according to this, your Stargate Program is funded by something called the IOA. Why would you -”

“Because the IOA is an international oversight committee made up of idiots who can’t see past the end of their own damned nose,” Jack explained testily. “They wanna take Atlantis apart for its technology which is all well and good except for it’s the only thing keeping the wraith from making another run on Earth.”

David frowned. “The wraith are the aliens that wanna eat us, right?” He turned to John, “This file here says you’ve been fed on.”

His brother grimaced. “Yeah, and it wasn’t fun.”

David continued frowning. “You don’t look like you’re missing anything.”

The younger man shook his head. “That’s not how it works. They’re not cannibals, more like space vampires. They’ve all got a kind of feeding slit-thing on the palm of their right hands which they use to literally suck the life out of you. The whole process looks like really rapid aging. It hurts like hell but it its reversible. They call it the gift of life which is basically them giving back what they take. It can help heal too.”

Disturbed, David made a face. “Well, that’s -”

“Horrifying, we know,” cut in Woolsey. “Unfortunately we don’t have time to go over everything in detail.”

“Why not?”

“Because the IOA’s getting antsy,” explained Jack. “Storm knows something’s up and if we don’t act fast, I’m honestly afraid of what he might try next.”

“It’s like this,” Kate took over, “Atlantis is primarily a research base so it’s both run and operated by the private sector. The IOA controls our funding but because Storm wants the city for his own gain he’s restricted our cash flow almost to the point of nonexistence all the while claiming the IOA simply doesn’t have the funds. It’s complete bullshit – we’re nearly out of food, we’re conserving ammo and we’re so low on people we’ve had to start training the civilians to fill noncombatant roles. In fact, if it weren’t for our Pegasus allies and one very arrogant wraith who’s more interested in using us like a chess piece to further his own ends, we’d be dead in the water by now. We need an ally, someone here on Earth we can reply on to fight in our corner. Someone Storm can’t intimidate into backing down like he’s done just about everyone else.”

“I see,” David replied, leaning back in his seat in order to study his sister more carefully. It was obvious this was her show; O’Neill and Woolsey might’ve been the one’s to bring it to the table but Kate was the one calling the shots. Like him, she’d majored in cooperate law and international policy. She knew how the game was played and judging by the fact they were all sitting here, she played it well. The others might not know what her angle was but to David, it was clear as day.

“So, what’s this all really about?” he queried, fighting the urge to grin as her lips twitched. “It’s not just about funding – with fifty percent controlling interest and nearly a quarter of the company’s annual net profits you’re not exactly strapped for cash. There’s no need to get me involved unless there’s something else you want.”

Kate smiled. “Well, aren’t you clever.”

Confused, both John and Jack made faces while Woolsey suddenly looked very smug.

“You’re not wrong,” he informed the eldest Sheppard, shooting a sly look towards Major Sheppard before he continued. “If funding was all we wanted none of us would be here. What _we_ want is something much more binding.”

“A trade agreement,” Kate supplied, taking the que from Woolsey to begin explaining. “If John and I tried to do everything ourselves I wouldn’t put it past Storm to immediately freeze our accounts. But if we brokered a deal, made some sort of business transaction that’s legally binding, Storm’d have a harder time stopping it. In fact, the only way out would be through court.”

“Which, due to the classified nature of the Stargate Program, would be next to impossible.” David was impressed, “You think this all up on your own Katie Beth?”

She shrugged. “Woolsey helped. He used to be IOA so he knows how they work. We spent a lot of time in his office talking about it.”

John made a face. “I thought all those discussions were about Todd.”

She shook her head. “Not all of them. He’s fascinating I’ll grant you but hardly worth several hour long discussions.”

“Who’s Todd?” David asked.

“An ally,” his sister replied. “I wouldn’t go so far as to call him a friend but we’d be dead without him. He’s a wraith.”

The eldest Sheppard raised an eyebrow in surprise. “And you trust him?”

“Trust’s kind of a strong word,” John explained. “It’s more he’s the enemy of our enemy which means, for now; we’re all on the same side. He needs us and we need him.”

“How…lovely,” David said dryly, turning back to Kate. “So this agreement you wanna broker – what exactly are you offering?”

She grinned. “Well, PSI is a utilities company, we specializes in power generation and distribution and worldwide communications. And recently, Atlantis made a discovery that could potentially revolutionize both those areas with minimal risk and a whole lot of gain.”

John caught on. “You’re talking about the ZPM research.”

Kate nodded.

General O’Neill frowned. “I don’t remember that being part of the plan.”

“It’s a recent development,” Woolsey explained. “As Major Sheppard has pointed out, trade agreements are more stable and harder to break then applications for funds. More legally binding too – so long as PSI continues to benefit fiscally from the discoveries made by our research teams Atlantis is entitled not only to a part of the profits but also the monetary means by which to continue making progress.”

“And for the less business and economically inclined in the room that means what, exactly?” asked Jack.

“It means,” said Kate, “That as long as Atlantis’ research is making PSI money Storm can’t legally break the agreement.”

The general was impressed. “Sweet.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” John agreed. He eyed his sister, “When did you get so devious?”

“She’s always been this way,” David reminded him, “Don’t you remember? When we were kids she could talk her way out of anything, usually by making it our fault.”

“That is true,” agreed the younger brother. He looked down at his watch, “Shit! Katie Beth we gotta go; the gate’s set to dial out in two minutes.”

“Fuck.” She leapt to her feet, “General, Mr. Woolsey; you’ll be alright from here?”

The director of Atlantis nodded. “We’ll take care of it.”

David frowned. “We’re in Seneca Falls New York –  how’re you two supposed to get back to Cheyenne Mountain Colorado in less than two minutes?”

“Like this,” said John, grinning and he reached for the radio in his ear. “Daedalus this is Sheppard, we’re ready to beam.”

The last thing he and Kate saw before becoming engulfed in a flash of light and transported to the SGC was their brother’s stunned face. A minute later they were back in Atlantis being greeted by Lorne who had been waiting for them at the gate.

“So, how’d it go?”

John sighed. “Well, it went well. With any luck we’ll be out from under the IOA’s thumb as soon as David signs the paperwork.”

“And how soon might that be?” Lorne asked.

“Maybe a week, two at most,” said Kate. “Really it shouldn’t take long.”

“Thank God!” he exclaimed. “So now wh -”

“Colonel Sheppard, Sir.”

The three of them turned to find the Sergeant from the control room – the one Ronon was seeing – standing behind them. “Yes Banks, what?” asked Sheppard.

She looked nervous. “Todd’s subspace transmitter just turned on. It’s broadcasting SOS.”

Collectively, all three of them sighed although Kate’s was less pronounced.

“No rest for the wearily eh Sir?” quipped Lorne, eyeing his commander peevishly.

John glared at him. “Shut up major, I out rank you,” he snipped, only half kidding. He took a deep breath and then slowly let it out before telling Lorne to go find Ronon and the rest of his team. “Me and Kate’ll get changed, suit up, and then meet you back here in twenty,” the colonel instructed, already starting to walk away, “Then we’ll go save Todd because, apparently, his ass is in the fire again. Why is it always us, can’t be call his wraith and have them come get him…”

Chuckling, Lorne tapped his radio and started calling his team.

~xXx~

Deep underground, in a cell block that had once belonged to the Genii, Lt. Aiden Ford watched his prisoner pace. He had planned on killing him; he’d even had the creature on his knees. But while his men were searching him, relieving him of any weapons, they’d found something in one of his pockets. Something that, by rights, he shouldn’t have.  Something Ford could use. It was the only reason he'd let him live.

 “You comfy in there?” he asked, voice taunting. “Need me to get you anything?”

The creature growled. “Why have you spared me?” he demanded, “For what purpose do you keep me here?”

Aiden smiled. “You’re bait.”

The wraith stopped moving, clawed hands clenching and unclenching as he turned to regard his human captor. “Bait?” he repeated, “For what?”

“Not what, who.”

He hissed. “For whom then?” he questioned, “Who could you possibly think to trap with me as enticement?”

“An old friend,” Aiden replied, “And, apparently, someone you know.”

“Who?”

“Colonel Sheppard.”

The wraith’s face went slack as his eyes narrowed. “Then you are wasting your time,” he informed the other, “Sheppard will not come for me.”

“He will,” Ford insisted. “The colonel’s kinda got this thing for saving people – even people who don’t deserve to be saved. He’ll come for you and, when he does, I’ll be waiting. It’s only a matter of time.”

“You seem very confident.”

“Oh, I am,” said Aiden, holding up his hand so the wraith could see what was in it. He smirked when he saw the look of surprise on the creature’s face. “Know what this is?” he asked.

“Where did you get that?” his prisoner demanded.

Ford grinned darkly. “So you _do_ know what it is?”

The captive wraith snarled.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” smiled Aiden devilishly, almost sadistically. “So, if you know what it is, you must know what I’m gonna do with it?”

“I can guess,” the wraith acknowledged.  

Aiden's grin widened. "Betcha Sheppard’s here in ten minutes after I turn this thing on."

Yellow eyes narrowed to slits at the human’s enthusiasm. “Why are you doing this?” asked the wraith, “What ill did Sheppard breed onto you?”

The expression on Ford’s face turned dark. “He betrayed me. When I needed him most, he turned his back on me; abandoned me. Called me crazy – I’m not crazy!”

Clearly this human did not know Sheppard as well as he seemed to believe. “I somehow doubt that.”

“Which part?” Ford demanded.

“Both,” answered the wraith dryly.

His captor glared at him. “Shut up!” he screamed, rushing towards the bars like an angry or wounded animal. “You don’t know anything!”

“I know John Sheppard does not forsake those he commands. No matter what the cost. He is actually quite obstinate about it, sometimes choosing to risk the many in order to save the few. A foolish philosophy but, one he adheres to strictly.”

“Shows you what you know!” Ford snarled at him, “I tried to show him a better way but he wouldn’t listen. He just wanted to help me; I don’t need help. I’ve done more than he ever has and when he gets here, I’ll show him!”

Growling and snarling in rage, Aiden turned to go but stopped, turning back at the last minute. He looked at his prisoner, studying him for a moment, before asking, “What’s your name?”

The caged creature snarled indignantly. “What?”

“Sheppard likes naming things,” Ford explained snootily, as though his explanation were the most simple thing in the world. “The last wraith was Steve. Did he name you?”

The imprisoned wraith thought about it, weighing the consequences of this human knowing or not knowing what Sheppard called him. It would be an improvement if his jailor had something to call him other than his biological designation. “Todd,” he slowly replied, “Sheppard named me Todd.”

“Okay Todd,” said Ford, smiling cruelly, “You just sit tight and I’ll bring the colonel to you when he gets here. Then, you and him can have a nice long conversation about how important you are to each other before I offer him a deal.”

“Sheppard will not trade for me,” Todd informed him, confidant in that at least. “Whatever you want from him in exchange, he will not give it.”

“We’ll see about that,” the human insisted. “For now, don’t go anywhere.”

And then he was gone.

~xXx~

Captain Ryan was having a bad day. His goldfish had died, his breakfast had been cold, his favorite gun had jammed while he’d been cleaning it so he’d had to leave it behind and, to top it all off, he was now wandering around a really creepy planet looking for Todd the fucking wraith. Things couldn’t be worse. “Why is it that whenever Todd needs to be rescued, he picks planets that’d give Dr. Seuss nightmares?” Ryan wanted to know, “Why can’t he, just once, need to be rescued from like a beach or a nice, grassy plane or something?”

Lorne snickered. “No idea,” he said, “When we find him, you can ask him.”

“I’ll do that,” scowled the captain, stepping over a fallen, half rotted log. “Seriously, this place is fucking creepy.”

Colonel Sheppard was inclined to agree. “It kinda reminds me of Dagobah,” he observed, looking around the decaying forest permeated with thick fog. “Maybe after we find Todd, we can go looking for Yoda.”

Even Ronon caught the reference. “He’s the guy that talks funny right?” Everyone nodded, the Setedan frowned, “I didn’t like him.”

Both Sheppard and Ryan looked absolutely appalled. “How can you not like Yoda?” demanded John, “He’s Yoda!!”

Ronon grunted. “If he was so good with the force why didn’t he just kill Vadar?”

“Because it wasn’t his destiny,” Ryan tried to explain, “It’s was Luke’s -”

“Are you really arguing about _‘Star Wars’_?” interrupted Kate with a snicker. She looked over at Lorne, “Do they do this often?”

The major nodded, trying his best to stifle a grin. “All the time,” he told her. “Careful Sir,” he warned, aiming a teasing smirk towards his commander, “Your geek is showing.”

John rounded on him. “Shut up major, at least I don’t own all one hundred and thirty-three episodes of _‘Battlestar Galactica’_.”

The remark was meant to have some sort of shaming effect on the self-satisfied Lorne but instead, the major just took it in stride. “Yeah and I’ll have you know, _Battlestar_ is far superior in a lot of way to -”

Lorne’s argument abruptly died when Strauss suddenly stopped walking and the major almost ran into him. “Sergeant?” he questioned, stepping around him to see what all the fuss was about. They were now out of the creepy, misty forest and were currently standing on the lip of a canyon. In the canyon was a banged up, beat up hive that definitely looked like it’d seen better days. A quick look at their tracker told them that Todd’s signal was coming from down there.

“Well that’s not good,” observed the colonel, using their vantage point to survey the damage. It was a miracle the thing was still in one piece.  

“How the hell did it even land?” asked Strauss, entering the conversation for the first time since they’d left the city. “It looks shot to shit.”

“Todd, probably,” said Kate turning to her brother, “You did say that if anyone could land a damaged hive it’d be him.”

John frowned. “That sounds almost like a compliment and I’m pretty sure I’ve never complimented Todd.”

Kate glared at him.

“We won’t tell,” Ryan deadpanned before holding up his scanner so that they could all see the flashing red dot. “Come on, the sooner we find him the sooner we can leave.”

Agreed, the six of them carefully made their way down into the canyon and towards the crippled hive. They boarded through a rather spectacular hole along the ship’s aft side and then split up, deciding that in addition to looking for Todd they’d see if they could find any other survivors. John, Ronon and Strauss headed towards the bridge while Lorne, Kate and Ryan headed towards one of the dart bays. The bridge was deserted once they reached it and, deciding to move on, John led the way towards the throne room.

“It’s creepy in here,” Ronon grunted, hand itching to draw his gun at even the slightest provocation. “Creepier then outside.”

“The empty ones always are,” John agreed as they entered yet another deserted corridor. “Makes you kinda wish Teyla was here.”

Strauss glanced sideways at him. “You knew we would be recusing Todd, why didn’t you bring her?” he asked.

Sheppard shrugged. “Torren’s sick, wasn’t gonna ask her to leave him. Kid needs his mother.”

“Yeah but surely -”

“Colonel this is Lorne, come in.”

John touched his ear piece. “This is Sheppard, you guys find something?”

“Yes Sir and it’s not good. Come around to the forwards dart bay, there’s something you need to see.”

Giving the silent instruction, John and the others pulled back and headed for the bay. When they arrived it was to find Lorne and Kate crouching down in the mist while Ryan stood guard over them. Approaching the trio, the colonel frowned when he say the body of the wraith drone on the ground.

“What is it?” he asked.

Lorne looked up at him and then stood; Kate followed and did the same. “His enzyme pouch has been removed,” the major informed him, mouth set in a grim line. “Sir, if it’s who I think it is -”

“We’ve gotta find Todd,” said Sheppard, panic racing through him. “He might be an arrogant bastard but he’s a useful arrogant bastard. If we don’t find him soon he’s dead.”

“And we’re back to square one,” grunted Ronon, not at all pleased with this turn of events.

“Who’s got the tracker? Where’s his signal coming from?” he demanded, taking the offered device from Ryan in order to study it. The blinking red dot was no longer coming from inside the hive but from outside it; back the way they’d come. It’d moved – a good sign all things considered.

“Come on,” the colonel called, already on the move, “Let’s go before he moves again. I don’t much like the idea of playing tag right now.”

In a single file, his team followed; weaving back through the empty corridors until they once more reached the outside. From there, their tracker led them up the opposite wall of the canyon and then back into the forest. They’d made it maybe fifty feet past the tree line when the blinking dot suddenly vanished.

The whole line came up short. “Where’d he go?” John asked, although not to anyone in particular. Confused he stared down at his hand-held and all but willed the dot to reappear. They’d been so close, maybe twenty feet away. If Todd’d died they would’ve heard something; it’s not like the wraith would’ve just gone away quietly.

“That’s a good question,” called a voice through the fog and, suddenly, the six of them were surrounded. The men were all heavily armed and rugged looking, dressed in leathers and rough linens not unlike what Ronon and Teyla wore. Pegasus couture at its finest, John ignored them all in favor of zeroing in on their leader.

Never in his life had he wished to be more wrong. “Ford.”

The former lieutenant gave a mocking bow. “Hey Sheppard, long time no see.”

John glared at him. “What’re you doing here?”

“Waiting for you,” he grinned, coming forwards; stalking like a predator. “I knew you’d come.”

“Did you?” John spat, feeling more and more like they’d just walked into a trap. Where the hell was Todd or had he finally betrayed them? Was he ever even here? “How’s that?”

“Because of this,” Ford explained, holding up a weird looking, not-quite square device that was very obviously wraith. “It’s a relay. It takes a signal, copies it, and then transmits it. I got it from a wraith outpost I raided a couple of years back. It’s useful, makes them come to us instead of us having to find them.”

“He copied Todd’s tracking signal,” Lorne realized, “You used him as bait.”

“And you came running,” the lieutenant grinned, wolfishly this time – like the cat who’d eaten the damned canary. “Awful lot of trouble to go through for a wraith.”

“He’s useful,” Sheppard explained, suddenly uncharacteristically concerned for Atlantis’ wraith ally. “Did you kill him?”

“Worried Sir?” Ford taunted, a mirthless laugh escaping him as he spread his arms wide. “Don’t be. He’s alive, for now. Like you said, he’s useful.”

“What do you want?” asked Ronon, already tired of this game. He knew Sheppard was tired of it too but kept it up in order to try and get information. Ford liked to talk, liked to tell them how clever and successful he was; how much better than them he’d become. The longer they kept him talking the more insight they’d glean and maybe, just maybe the lieutenant would slip up and they’d get something they could use. It’d worked last time.

“Same stuff I wanted before,” explained Ford, “Only this time, I want more.”

The colonel scoffed. “What, you want us to help you take down a hive? Didn’t you learn your lesson last time?”

Ford growled at him. “Shut up! It would’ve worked if you hadn’t spent the whole time second guessing me. It’s your fault it failed!”

“Keep telling yourself that buddy,” John jeered, “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Enraged, Ford shot forwards as if to punch him only to stop short just in front of his face. “Careful Sir,” he warned, “Next time I might just kill you.”

John glared at him.

“Where’s Todd?” asked Lorne, trying to steer the conversation back into safer waters. “You said he’s alive, I don’t suppose you’d take us to him.”

“Is that what you want?” he asked, carefully looking over the major as though afraid he was trying to trick him. Then, in the next instant, a grin broke out over his face. “Okay. If you all will follow me…”

With Ford’s men surrounding them on all sides, the six of them were relieved of their weapons and then marched forwards in a tight cluster deeper and deeper into the woods until eventually they came upon a bunker. It looked Genii but then they’d learned that that didn’t always mean anything. A lot of abandoned mines, bunkers and so forth _looked_ Genii but weren’t. Ladon had explained that this was because the Genii, unlike so many other technologically advanced societies, freely traded their architectural and engineering knowledge in exchange for more basic goods. Still, the old World War Two-esque style of these buildings never ceased to fill the Atlantians with a sense of dread. Nothing good ever came out of entering them and Sheppard saw no reason why this time would prove an exception.

The bunker’s entrance was a low ceilinged corridor that nearly all of them had to stoop through in order to avoid a concussion. Kate was the exception being as she was the shortest although she did have to bow her head. Once they were through, Ford’s henchmen corralled them through another series of hallways and then through a heavy metal door that opened up into an obvious cell block. There was only one person currently in the cells and John’d never admit it but he was actually relieved to see him.

The same could not be said for Todd. “You have been captured,” he commented dryly.

“Nice to see you too,” John snapped, good feelings gone. “Next time you can save your own damn ass.”

The wraith snarled.

Ford was grinning. “See?” he told his captive, “I told you he’d come for you.”

“So you did,” Todd hissed, annoyed his ally had been so easily caught. Surely by now Sheppard had learned to be cautious, to not blindly charge into situations without first acquiring the proper amount of information? Given the fact he was standing there, apparently he hadn’t. And Sheppard wondered why his faith in them was so severely limited.

The only one he trusted not to regularly do something stupid was Katherine.

“Maybe next time I tell you something you’ll actually believe me,” Ford continued, his attention turning from Todd the captured wraith to Sheppard, his men and the woman dressed in armor. “Lock them up.”

Wordlessly his men did as directed, diving the six of them into groups of three before shoving them into their cells. Kate was handled a little roughly, her captor pressing close to lick her neck and smell her hair before practically throwing her into Ryan and then slamming the door. John ground his teeth together but forced himself not to say anything, waiting for Ford to dismiss his men before approaching the bars, casually draping his arms over them as he fixed his former lieutenant with a look.

“Alright you caught us, now what?”

“Depends,” said Ford, glancing back at the now hissing wraith before returning to the colonel. “How much is he worth to you?”

John didn’t like where this was going. “What do you want for him?”

The lieutenant shrugged. “Just some medical supplies, weapons and all your spare ammunition. Nothing you can’t live without.”

“See, here’s the thing,” John frowned, “We can’t really live without anything at the moment.”

Ford’s one good eye narrowed. “Whatdoya mean?”

“The IOA’s been bleeding us dry ever since we got back. We’re out running out of everything; why else do you think we even considered making an alliance with him?”

This last was accompanied with a wave in Todd’s general direction and Ford, as a result, seemed to be contemplating its meaning. His face, from what John could see, looked considering. His stomach tensed at the thought they might actually be getting somewhere. “That does make sense,” said Ford slowly, “He is wraith.”

“Exactly!” Sheppard exclaimed, “I mean, you have to admit, we’d have to be pretty desperate to even consider making an alliance with him.”

“Yeah,” agreed the lieutenant, “I can see that.” Then, in the next instant, his face turned hard, “If I didn’t already know who he was.”

John’s face fell. “What do you mean?”

Ford glared at him. “You think I wouldn’t figure it out?” he demanded, “That I wouldn’t know? Everyone knows you have an alliance with a wraith, the same wraith that fed off you and then gave you back your life. He helped you defeat the replicators and went on some undercover mission with Teyla; you think I wouldn’t know it was him?”

Sheppard suddenly had a very bad feeling about this. “You’re well informed,” he observed, “Where’d you get your intel?”

“Worshipers,” Ford explained, as though it were obvious, “They know everything. And the ones that’re cast out –they’ll tell you anything if they think it’ll get them back in.”

“I’ll have to remember that.”

“You should,” Ford continued, “Anyway, I figured out who he was the second I pulled an Atlantis IDC out of his pocket.”

“Maybe he stole it,” suggested Lorne when it looked like the colonel was having a bit of trouble coming up with a response. “You never know, maybe he -”

“Don’t lie to me! Just admit it, he’s your wraith!”

“He’s not _ours_ ,” John denied venomously, resenting the accusation. “We work with him occasionally yeah, but he’s not ours. We don’t even like him! He’s an arrogant, condescending asshole a good ninety-nine percent of the time!”

“Then why do you put up with him?” challenged Ford, “Why come all this way to save him if you guys hate him so much.”

“Because arrogant bastard or not we need him,” explained Sheppard, “Just like you need the enzyme. So how about you cut us a little slack and let us all go.”

“How stupid do you think I am?” Ford demanded.

Ryan shot him a patronizing look. “You really want us to answer that?”

The lieutenant snarled and flew at the bars, stopping just shy of hitting them, his face twisted in anger. “Shut up! All of you just shut up!”

“You started it,” said Kate stepping forwards, crossing her arms as she placed herself between Ryan and their crazed captor. Even hopped up on enzyme Ford was less a danger to her then he was to the others. It’d be close but she could probably take him, or at least hold him off long enough for the others to get away.

The lieutenant, however, seemed to disagree. “Careful sweetheart,” he warned, closing in on the bars as he gave her the once over, deciding he rather liked what he saw. “All that fancy armor won’t do you any good if I decide to take you. Or give you to my men.”

Kate sneered. “Your men couldn’t handle me.” Her eyes narrowed, “And neither could you.”

Ignoring Sheppard’s snarl and the wraith’s agitated growl – although why _he_ was upset was a mystery – Aiden leered at her through the bars of her cell. “Wanna find out?”

Before Kate could reply, John snapped. “Touch her and die Ford!” the colonel yelled, kicking the wall of his cell as if to prove he wasn’t kidding. “I mean it. I’ll fucking rip your head off.”

The lieutenant turned. “Touched a nerve have I sir?” His eyes flickered back towards the woman, “She someone special?”

John growled. “She’s a member of my team.”

“Bullshit,” Ford argued, not believing for a second that was all she was. “You never reacted this way when I was threatened; or McKay, or Teyla,” his eye narrowed, “She’s important to you.”

“She’s a member of my team,” John repeated, cursing himself for reacting like a big brother instead of a commanding officer. This was why he and Kate didn’t usually go on missions together, he always had trouble not giving himself away. “ _She_.”

Even with the extra emphasis on her gender title, Ford wasn’t buying it. “Well if that’s the way you wanna play it…” Turning away from Sheppard, he deliberately looked back at the girl whose eyes, he noted, had become even more narrowed giving her face a look that would’ve terrified him before he’d discovered the enzyme. Now, however, he had nothing to fear especially not some jacked up Atlantian bitch in fancy armor.

“So, you wanna go first?”

She glowered at him. “First for what?”

“Interrogation,” he explained. “The colonel here claims Atlantis doesn’t have anything it can give me; I don’t believe you. So, until one of you decides to tell me the truth, we’re gonna play a little game called you-tell-me-what-I-want-to-know-and-if-you-don’t-I-hurt-you. Sound like something volunteer for?”  

Kate bristled and, in the cell next to hers, so did John. Her brother was about two seconds shy of going into literal cardiac arrest – something she wanted to avoid if at all possible. John was horrible at separating personal from professional whenever she was in danger; if Ford tortured her Kate didn’t trust him not to cave the second their captor drew blood.

Fortunately for her, Sergeant Strauss seemed to know this too. “I’ll go,” he said, coming up from the back of their cell to stare Ford right in the eye.  “Leave her alone and take me.”

And while Ford’s face suddenly broke into a sudden grin and Kate let out a sigh of relief, six pairs of eyes – five of them human – were busy staring at the Sergeant as though he’d grown another head. “Come again?” Lorne questioned.

But Ford didn’t give anyone time to speak. “You got yourself a deal,” he said, swinging open the cell door in order to draw the man out before slamming it closed again, locking it before escorting the sergeant from the block. He could hear Sheppard yelling at him to stop, to think about what he was about to do, but he ignored him. Grinning manically as he took his prisoner by the arm and dragged him away to the interrogation chamber.

As soon as the big metal door was forcefully shut, cutting them off from Ford and Strauss, John let out an angry howl; kicking the bars repeatedly before letting out a groan as he slid tiredly down to the floor. His men watched him, all thinking the same thing: what was Strauss playing at? Or, at least, that was what Lorne, Ryan and Ronon were thinking. Todd too, by the looks of it; although he chose not to give voice to the matter.

Instead he asked, “Friend of yours, Sheppard?”

“Used to be,” grumbled John, sighing as he tilted his head back to rest against the iron poles caging them in. “So how’d you end up in here?” he asked wearily, without looking at him. “We saw your hive – must’ve been some battle.”

“It was. We were attacked by a rival from another faction. Our enemies grow bolder.”

“ _Our_ enemies?” Lorne questioned only to find himself on the receiving end of a particularly indulgent look from their ally betraying how stupid a statement that was. Obviously whoever wanted Todd dead was no friend of theirs. “Yeah okay, fine – I’ll give you that one.”

The wraith snorted, sinking down into a meditative crouch while Katherine’s eyes turned to his. “Are you okay?” she asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

Before Todd could answer, her brother gave an indignant yelp. “Is he _okay_?” He stared at her incredulously, “Seriously?”

“It’s a legitimate question,” she said defensively. “His ship was attacked, his crew is most likely dead and he’s being held prisoner by a nut-job hyped up on the Pegasus’ equivalent of meth!” She turned back to Todd, “I repeat, are you okay?”

Touched by her concern, and able to detect no alternative motive, the wraith inclined his head, “I will recover.”

“Good,” Kate replied. Then, because she could _feel_ her brother staring at her, “Yes John, what?”

“You’re being nice to him,” He blinked, “Why are you being nice to him?”

“I’m not being nice, I’m being courteous. There’s a difference. I suggest you try it sometime.”

John scoffed, no more likely to take her advice this time then the last time she’d given it. They’d been having this argument a lot lately and, personally, he was tired of it. Yes he knew Woolsey had given her a job and yes he knew she was apparently making headway – Todd’d taken a leap of faith at the McKay’s wedding, had actually stuck around to help _and_ had let himself get talked into sharing a dance with Kate at the reception. Still, just because his sister had decided to make nice with him didn’t mean _he_ had to.

“I’ll be nice to him when he’s nice to me.”

“You’re such a child,” Kate admonished, rolling her eyes exasperatedly. “Don’t you remember the golden rule?”

“The golden rule doesn’t apply to Todd,” argued John stubbornly. “He’s wraith.”

“He’s not _just_ wraith,” she spat, grey eyes narrowing angrily. God he was stubborn, on that scale he and Todd were just about matched. It’d taken a number of drawn out arguments, physical altercations and flat out threats to get the wraith to change his mind; Kate shuddered to think what she’d have to do in order to change her brother’s.

For now though, she was just as tired of the conversation as he. “Fine, whatever, be an asshole,” she threw at him, “Just know, the next time he threatens to eat you, I won’t stop him.”

“Noted,” John acknowledged before slipping into a tense, angry silence. He knew they weren’t done with the argument. Kate seemed to think treating Todd more like a friend instead of just an ally would be incentive enough for him to do the same but John knew better. Her whole assignment was never going to pan out like she thought it would. Oh she might succeed in getting Todd to talk about the wraith, that John had every confidence in. And he’d admit she’d made some progress in other areas as well. But her whole scheme to get him to see them as equals – that was nothing more than a pipedream.

Better she gave that one up now, thought John, otherwise she’d be destined for disappointment. With this in mind, he closed his eyes and tried going to sleep. Not because he was tired but in order to pass time. Until Ford got back, all they could do was wait.

~xXx~

Meanwhile, in another room on the other side of the facility, Strauss was strapped awkwardly into a weird looking chair and then rolled forwards until he was face to face with the former lieutenant. Ford eyed him critically, his one good eye darting back and forth over the man’s face before he finally said, “So, are you gonna cooperate or am I gonna have’ta beat it out of you?”

With a straight face, the sergeant replied, “I’ll cooperate.”

Ford’s left eyebrow rose incrementally. “Really?”

Strauss nodded. “Yeah, really,” he said, smiling coldly. “You wanna break Sheppard; get him to give you what you want right?” the captor nodded. “Well, I’ll tell you how you can do that.”

Aiden was intrigued. “Go on,” he instructed.

Strauss took a deep breath. “You gotta go after the girl,” he explained, “She’s the key. Rough her up a bit, maybe let your men play with her – the colonel’ll give you anything you want.”

“And why’s that?” Ford asked, wondering why some random girl was so important. He’d never seen her before so she must be new. New usually meant the person usually wasn’t that important yet. What about her made the sergeant so confident that breaking her would break Sheppard?

Strauss grinned darkly. “She’s his sister.”

Ford stared at him, wholly and completely surprised. “His sister?” he questioned aloud, just to make sure he’d heard right. “That girl out there, in the armor; that’s Sheppard’s sister?”

“Her name’s Kate,” supplied the marine, contempt heavily laced throughout his tone. “Major Kate Sheppard. I’m tellin’ you, you wanna get what you’re after – she’s your ticket.”

Aiden studied him, curious. It was a well-known fact that Colonel Sheppard inspired loyalty in almost everyone he met so why was this man so willing to betray him? “Why’re you telling me this?” he asked, wanting to know, “You got something against Sheppard?

“I’ve got nothing against him,” Strauss replied, lips curling upwards into a dangerous looking sneer. “It’s her I’ve got a problem with.”

“How come?”

He scowled. “What, you want the list? Well let’s see; to start with she’s an entitled bitch and a fucking whore,” spat Strauss contemptuously. “She’s _supposed_ to be here dealing with the wraith but so far all she’s done is tell us how we’ve gotta start playing nice with Todd while letting the wraith stare at her fucking tits. It’s sick but she told him to guard her while she was in the shower, got out and then found him staring at her. Apparently the fucking bastard likes what he saw ‘cause she told us he said she’s desirable or some shit like that. If you ask me, I think she let him fuck her.”

Ford made a face. To his knowledge none of his former teammates were yet aware of the either the companion trade or of the reason most of their worshippers were women. But according to Strauss, some of them were and Sheppard’s sister was apparently one of them. That she wasn’t appalled by the idea was definitely sick but, moreover, it was something he could use. An idea slowly came to him as he figured out how he was gonna get Sheppard to do what he wanted.

“Thanks,” he said, standing. Then, with a wave of his hand, he had his men start pushing Strauss – still strapped to his chair – back towards the north corner of the room. “I’m so glad we had this talk.”

Worried, the sergeant began to struggle against his bonds. “Wait,” he called, sounding panicked, “What’re you doing?”

Aiden turned to him. “Well we’ve gotta make it look like you put up some sort of fight otherwise the colonel’ll be able to figure out you narked on him,” he explained, “Don’t worry, it won’t hurt. Much.”

It wasn’t until the he saw the generator and the wires hooked up to the back of his chair that Strauss realized what he was sitting in. Then, before he say anything, one of the men flipped a switch and then it was like his body was on fire. He opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out. Eventually it came and the sergeant screamed his throat raw before, finally, blissfully, the pain got to be so much that his world faded instantly to black.

He was out cold.

~xXx~

When Ford and his men returned, two of them carrying a limp Strauss between them, everyone was immediately on their feet; weary.

“What’d you do to him?” Lorne asked as the men opened the door to the other cell and threw the sergeant inside. He landed in a heap and with a thud; both Ryan and Kate immediately checking him to make sure he was okay.

Ford on the other hand, gave them all a sadistic grin. “Just a little shock therapy, nothing major,” he told them, “Don’t worry, he’ll live.”

“You sure about that?” Sheppard questioned, staring down at his man until Ryan looked up and gave him the signal he’d found a pulse and the sergeant was still breathing. 

Ford nodded. “Yep.” The creepy grin was back, “He did tell me something interesting though.”

Sheppard’s spine prickled with dread. “Oh yeah? What’d he say?”

A look of sadistic glee transformed the former lieutenant’s face into something frightening. “Her name,” he replied, nodding towards Kate. “I didn’t know you had a sister sir.”

John paled while Kate swallowed hard, instantly on guard at the revelation. She knew Strauss hated her but she’d have never thought he’d sell her out. Especially not to an enemy like Ford. Maybe he hadn’t had a choice? Maybe her name and rank had slipped through on accident with Ford just filling in the blanks. It wasn’t like it was hard – John’s reaction to her being threatened had seen to that.

Her brother, meanwhile, was about two seconds awake from having a stroke. As soon as Ford had said he knew her name he’d felt his stomach clench, his heart simultaneously jumping to his throat. He’d started choking on it while Lorne, Ronon and Ryan moved forwards to flank her, surrounding her even though two of them were in another cell. Across the aisle, even Todd seemed to have gone on alert; rising from his crouch with a low, menacing growl.

With a cruel smile, Ford turned to his men and gave then the order to take her.

“No!” John screamed, straining against the bars even though he knew it’d do him little good. “Don’t take her. You can’t -”

“I can and I will,” Ford corrected him, gesturing at one of his other men to keep a weapon trained on Ryan so that the captain wouldn’t try anything. “Come on out Major Sheppard, don’t make this hard.”

“No, you can’t take her!” the incensed colonel raged, “Take me, take me instead -”

“And deprive my men of her company?” The lieutenant leered, “Why on earth would I do that? Do you know how long it’s been since they’ve had a woman?”

John felt his blood run cold a second before hot, boiling fury took over; pulsing in his veins. With anyone else the threat of rape would’ve been just that, a threat. With Kate is was more, because she was his sister there was no doubt Ford would follow through in hope that breaking her would break him. Problem was, he was right.  

“Don’t,” he pled, as close to begging as he’d ever come. “Please don’t. I’ll do anything…”

His voice trailed off, fading into a whisper as he looked beseechingly at their captor. Ford’s expression was cold, his eyes cruel as he motioned for the woman to be brought to him, one hand reaching out to grab her arm. He was unprepared to feel his fingers close on thin air seconds before he felt the heel of her hand slam hard right into his face.

“Fuck!” he exclaimed, reeling backwards from the force of the blow. Blinking blood from his eyes, h stared back at her, “The hell was that for!?!”

Kate didn’t answer, instead she struck at him again, this time jabbing her elbow directly into his sternum.

Completely at a loss, John could only watch as she turned towards the man that held her, slipped her arm from his grasp and then snapped his neck as though it were a twig. “What’re you doing!?!” he yelled, finally finding his voice. She was giving herself away, making herself a target. They’d kill her for this surely, “Stop! Kate, stop!!”

His sister ignored him instead using the bedlam she’d created to strike out first at Ford’s men and then Ford once he’d recovered from her initial blows. He came at her, wraith stunner raised, ready to fire. She dodged both shots before coming up directly in front of him, disarming him easily as she catch his wrist squeezed until he was forced to let go. Then she pulled, yanking his arm forwards, using it to swing him around, slamming him face first into the unoccupied cell next to Todd’s. Ford cursed and tried to twist out of her grip but Kate held firm, forcing his elbow to bend as she applied her full weight into the back of him; holding him in place.

She could hear John screaming in the background, ordering her to stop – Lorne too – as well as the sounds of Ford’s men picking themselves up off the floor. She ignored all of them, searching until her grey eyes found Todd’s and held. For a moment he looked as confused as the others but then, as her gaze bored into his and she put more weight into holding the struggling Ford who was now yelling at his men to shoot her, she saw comprehension dawn. He understood, as the first bullet pierced her side, passing between two of her armored plates, she knew he realized what she was doing and why she was doing it. Trusting him to explain, to tell John and the others her motivation, Kate let go of Ford and whirled in order to face the new threat. She was able to dodge another three bullets before a second and then a third caught her first in the arm and then the abdomen. She grunted, pain blossomed in front of her eyes as another hit her in the back of a thigh and then, finally, a fifth lodged itself in her back somewhere near one of her ribs.

She dropped, falling to the floor on her hands and knees as wave after wave of agonizing pain washed over her, threatening to pull her under. She fought it, concentrated hard on her brother’s voice which she could still hear screaming in the background although it had faded to little more than a dull buzz. She was so tired, it took everything in her not to give in and let the darkness take her.

John, meanwhile, was livid. Eyes black, his entire body trembled with rage. Consumed with hate he faced down Ford and growled lowly, “You just crossed a line. There’s no way back from this.”

With his broken nose still gushing blood, the lieutenant looked back at him dangerously. “There was never a chance for me colonel,” he whispered, “And the line; she crossed it first.”

Then, reaching down, he hauled the colonel’s sister to her feet and then threw her at his men. They grabbed at her, making sure she was held securely, before carrying her from the cell block, strung between them like a rag doll. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Ford followed letting the cell block door slam shut behind him as he followed his men and his captive out.

For nearly a full minute nobody dared speak. Then, after that minute had passed, John exploded.

“What the _fuck_ was she thinking?” he raged, desperate to understand what the hell’d just happened. Why his sister had suddenly gone all ape-shit on Ford, making herself an even bigger target then she was before. “ _Was_ she thinking, that’s what I wanna -”

“Katherine chose her attack deliberately; her goal was to make herself a threat.”

Sheppard rounded on him. “The _hell_ are you talking about?” he demanded, “She was already a target, now she’s –”

“I did not say target, I said threat,” Todd explained patiently. “Rape is as much about power as it is sexual gratification. It is a weapon one can only use against someone physically weaker than themselves. By attacking our captor, Katherine proved she is strong, too strong to be forced into submission. The humans may hurt her but the threat of assault is no longer something she or you have to concern yourselves with.” 

John stared at him, absolutely shocked to realize the wraith was right.

Huh.

Lorne however, wasn’t nearly as convinced. “Are ya’ll forgetting Kate just got shot five times? It’s not like she’s really in the position to be fending people off if somebody were to try and –”

“Shut up Major, you’re not helping,” Ryan snapped. “Todd’s right, the chances of them trying to take advantage of her now after she kicked their collective asses is slim to none. They’ll probably still torture her but at least we know they won’t touch her.”

“That’s not exactly reassuring either,” John mumbled forlornly, “Why couldn’t she have just…I don’t…God, please let her be okay…”

“Your sister is capable, Sheppard. It is doubtful our captors will be able to break her.”

The human glared at him. As nice as it was to hear, John didn’t really believe him. Besides, what did he know? “Oh yeah? And just how’ve you managed to reach that startling conclusion? For all you know Ford’ll –”

Todd growled, uncomfortable with the human’s defeatist attitude. It did not suit him well. “You forget that I have been on the receiving end of your sister’s ire. Believe me when I say she is more than capable of handling whatever they might do to her. Trust me when I say she will survive.”

The colonel scoffed. “Trust you?” Scowling, he shook his head, “Not a chance.”

“Then trust Katherine,” Todd snarled, “Trust in her ability.”

Sheppard peered at him. “You seem awful confident in my sister’s abilities.” He frowned, “How’d you get so sure?”

The wraith hissed. “As I said, I have been on the receiving end of Katherine’s ire.”

John stood up. “Yeah I know, she’s yelled at you. But it’s not like she’s ever hit you or fought you -”

“Actually she has,” interjected Lorne. The colonel’s expression made him explain, “She ah…racked him.”

Ryan’s eyebrows shot up almost to his hairline. “She _racked_ him!?!” the captain sputtered, “When the hell was this?”

Todd looked confused. “I do not know to what you are referring Major -”

“On M47, that time you had her pinned to a tree. That thing she did with her knee, we call that racking someone.”

Indignant of the reminder – even though it was the same instance to which he had alluded while trying to reassure Sheppard – Todd felt his spine stiffen. “I was not aware you had witnessed that,” he said darkly.

Lorne shrugged. “I doubled back sometime after the two of you started yelling at each other – was gonna step in until I remembered Kate saying she’d take care of you herself if you tried anything. Gotta admit, I’m glad I held off. The look on your face after she hit you, spun you one-eighty and then held you at gun point: priceless.”

“I’ll bet,” Ronon agreed, glancing across the aisle towards Todd whose face had gone carefully blank, a clear sign that if not for the fact he and Lorne were separated by an aisle and two sets of bars, the major would’ve been in serious trouble for laughing at his expense. Fortunately for him they were so, at least for now, Todd would just have to deal with it. The exchange did however, have a positive note. After hearing the details, John felt much better about his sister’s absence. The only thing that nagged at him was the idea that Todd getting racked would’ve hurt. As far as they knew he only _looked_ male, there was no guarantee he was and John really didn’t care enough to ask.

So with Todd now brooding quietly in his cell not talking to them, all the others could do was sit around and try and find a way to pass the time. John doubted that he, or anyone else, would be able to take a nap given the circumstances so, eventually, he asked if anyone had a deck of cards. Ryan pulled an old beat-up, bicycle deck out of one of his pockets and immediately those of them that were still awake - Strauss was still out cold – started up a game of poker. The situation wasn’t ideal but it was all they could do. Until Ford brought Kate back, all they could do was wait.

Again.

~xXx~

About halfway through their fourth game, nearly an hour and a half after Ford had taken Kate, Strauss woke up. He started to stir slowly at first before he let out a low groan and then pushed himself up into a sitting position.

“What happened?” he asked groggily.

The colonel looked up from his cards. “That’s a good question Sergeant,” he said coldly, “Why don’t you tell us.”

Strauss frowned. “Whatdoya mean?”

Lorne shot him a dark glare. “You told Ford Kate was the colonel’s sister.”

Genuine panic morphed over his face. “What? No I didn’t, I’d never -”

“Oh cut the crap Sergeant. You’ve made it no secret how much you hate her, you mean to tell us that at the first opportunity you didn’t -”

“I didn’t sell her out I swear!” Strauss protested, desperate for them to believe him. Admittedly he maybe hadn’t thought his plan all the way through – of course Sheppard and the others would figure out he’d said something otherwise Ford’d never know to go after her. The trick here was in making it sound like he’d said something unintentionally. “I just…he had me strapped to an electric chair. He turned it on and started asking questions. It hurt like a bitch but I didn’t tell him anything, just the standards.”

Sheppard frowned. The standards were a soldier’s name, rank and serial number and were the only acceptable things to tell a captor. If Strauss had had his ass fired and Ford had started asking for names, it was entirely possible for the sergeant to have told him Kate’s name and rank without even realizing it.

Lorne reached the same conclusion. “So maybe you said something inadvertently?”

Strauss shook his head. “I don’t remember _saying_ anything. Honest.” He looked at Sheppard, “Colonel I swear, I didn’t -”

“Its fine Sergeant,” John interrupted, he was done talking about this. Talking about it just made him think about how long she’d been gone. It’d been almost two hours and he was starting to get worried. They all were. “It’s fine.”

Relieved his story had been bought, Strauss nodded and then dragged himself over to the wall in order to help prop himself up. For as much pain as he was in he was glad of it because Ford’d been right; evidence of torture had probably been the selling point on making his lie believable. He could only hope whatever hell the crazy bastard had put him through he doubled it for the bitch. Kate Sheppard was a spoiled little rich girl entirely too used to getting her way, using her body as a weapon to get what she wanted. Strauss had met someone just like her once before on one of his black op missions back before he’d joined the Stargate program. The bitch had played him and then left him for dead; it was only through sheer force of will that he’d been able to drag himself back to base. And it wasn’t until he saw Kate in her armor he realized the woman he’d met, Sarah, had also been an NC. Obviously part of their training had been how to use sex as a weapon; black widow tactics. Kate’d already used hers on Todd.

Across the aisle, a pair of narrowed reptilian eyes laid fixed on the newly awakened human. Todd had remained silent throughout the male’s questioning, listening for cues his human allies were unable to pick up on. Changes in heartrate, breathing irregularities, pheromone discharge; all of which indicated the one called Strauss was lying. The final point against him, however; were his thoughts. Todd felt no guilt as he delved gently into the human’s mind searching for the truth. He found it and was momentarily stunned by the depth of hatred this male felt towards her. And all because she resembled a female he had previously met who may or may not have been a member of the same program in which Katherine had been involved. It disgusted him really, the amount of loathing Strauss had for her because of values he only thought she had. One day he would make the human pay for his betrayal with his life.

Footsteps alerted Todd to their captor’s return and, in anticipation, he stood. His movement was caught by Sheppard and the others who paused in their game, eyed him and then turned expectantly towards the heavy metal door. It swung open only a moment later revealing their captor, Katherine and two male humans. The first thing Todd noticed was the dark circle blossoming beneath their jailer’s eye, an encouraging sign that told him Katherine had fought valiantly. The second thing he noticed was Katherine’s state of dress.

A growl escaped him before he could stop it, drowned out completely by the echo of Sheppard’s scornful yell.

“What the fuck did you do!?” he screamed, eyes wide as they took in the side of his sister, stripped nearly bare, standing in front of him. She’d been relieved of everything except her underwear and a thin, grey tank top. Even her bra had been removed and in the cold damp of the cells, her nipples stood erect.

Lorne was on his feet almost as fast as the colonel. “Where the fuck are her clothes!?!” he demanded, face white from shock. He could see patches of blood beginning to seep through her shirt correlating with the places she’d been shot. The one on her leg was practically oozing and despite all Todd’s reassurances a sudden fear gripped him, “Did you -”

“Relax Major; Sheppard,” Ford leered, motioning for men to bring her forwards so that her teammates could get a better look. “All I did was take the bullets out, and relieve her of all her weapons. Did you know she had eight knifes hidden in that suit? It was pretty impressive, I was surprised. You’re little sister packs one hell of a punch.”

To livid to be really proud, John was still pleased that apparently even after being shot his Katie Beth had put up one hell of a fight. “Thanks,” he ground out; teeth clenched so tightly his jaw hurt.

“You’re welcome,” said Ford gaily, smiling secretively. He turned to his men, “Back in the cell.”

They nodded and made towards the cell Ryan and Strauss were sharing.

Ford stopped them. “No, not that one,” he said, jerking his head to the right, towards the cell with the wraith. “Put her in there.”

An unmistakable fear bled through John’s veins at the thought of his sister, vulnerable, locked in a cell with Todd. “No,” he whispered, voice strained, “Please don’t -”

“Afraid he’ll eat her Sir?” the lieutenant taunted, leering suggestively. “Or are you afraid he’ll do something else?”

“What’re you _talking_ about?” Sheppard demanded, completely ignorant of the grimace Ryan and Lorne shared and the widening of Ronon’s eyes. “Dammit Ford, put her -”

“If you don’t know Sir, I’m not gonna tell you,” their captor teased, enjoying the amount of control he had over his prisoners. Sheppard was so easy to rile up as long as you had the right button and Ford did, currently, have the right one. “Just consider this a test of loyalty. If he really is your friend you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

Helpless, John could only watch as the door to Todd’s cell was jerked open and his sister was thrown unceremoniously inside. She stumbled, obviously in pain, and pitched forwards landing with a cry on her hands and knees. Whimpering, she swayed left and then collapsed onto her side, black hair tumbling every which way, forming a halo around her head. With one final look of smug triumph Ford turned on his heel and walked away, slamming the door closed behind him. In an instant John flew to the opposite corner of his cell, nearly tripping over Lorne in the process; it was the nearest he could get to his sister while still imprisoned.

“Kate?” he cried urgently, “Katie Beth? Are you –”

“I’m fine,” she answered, pushing herself up into a sort of half-sitting position. She shook her head, eager to get the hair out of her face, why had they needed to unbraid it again? Oh yeah, they’d been looking for weapons. Like she’d have any in her hair, the only thing they’d found were half a dozen bobby-pins.

“Bullshit,” Ryan quipped, looking her over. “You look like they fucking tore you up then spit you out.”

Kate snickered. “Oh stop it,” she said, “You’re only saying that to make me blush.”

The captain smirked. “Damn girly, you really can take a beating.”

“It’s what I was made for.”

Her responses so far were good but John had a bit more trouble making light of the situation. He was concerned with something else. “Katie Beth?” His sister looked at him, he grimaced, “I gotta ask, did they -”

Knowing what he was gonna ask, and dreading it as much as he was, Kate cut him off. “No John, they didn’t.”

“Then where did all your clothes go?” Lorne asked, frowning. “Are you sure they didn’t, not even a little bit? I know your definition and ours probably don’t match up -”

“You’re right, they don’t,” snapped Kate. She let out a weary sigh, “They stripped me out of my armor to look for weapons and then took off the majority of my clothes before digging the bullets out without offering sedatives. The worst that happened is I got groped a bit as they were taking off my bra – the underwire can be used as a weapon. Other than that, I’m fine. Promise. Just let it go.”

“But -”

_“I said let it go!!!”_

Mollified, John let the matter drop only because her outburst proved she was more upset about what’d happened then she was letting on. As bad as it sounded, he was glad. Kate’d detached herself in order to deal and John wasn’t going to take that away from her. He figured once this was all over and they were all back on Atlantis, he’d be there for her if she needed to talk. And if she didn’t well, he’d be there for her then too.

As soon as she knew he wasn’t going to keep pushing, Kate sat herself up the rest of the way and started testing her mobility. It was limited, very limited. The wound on her side was probably the most troublesome and while the one in the back of her thigh was making the biggest mess, she could already feel that one beginning to close. Her others were all still seeping blood but had begun to clot some time ago. The biggest issue she’d be facing in the near future was how to keep her body temperature up. She could already feel it dropping, her body siphoning off her reserve energy in order to expedite healing. It was cold down here but not so cold somebody fully clothed would have something to worry about. Her on the other hand, she was screwed.

Movement caught the corner of her eye and she remembered two things at once. One, she wasn’t alone in here and two; Jennifer had said wraith could change their body temperature to combat adverse conditions. Suddenly she had an idea.

“Hey Todd?”

The wraith – who had been hovering in the background, unsure of what to do, of whether or not to approach her since she had joined him – looked up at the sound of his name. “Yes?”

“Could you come here please?” Kate beckoned, “I need a favor.”

Over on the other side of the aisle, John’s face took a downwards turn. “What kind of favor?” he wanted to know.

His sister scowled, refusing to answer as she waited for Todd to get closer, reaching up for him once he was standing over her. Dutifully he took her hand, wordlessly pulling her to her feet, his feeding hand resting at her waist to steady her as she swayed. Kate clung to him, “Can you help me to the wall?” she asked.

Too much aware their every move was being watched, Todd gave a slight nod and did as he was asked; helping Katherine to move to the very back of their cell whereupon she requested he help her sit. He did so, letting her go only once she was seated; moving away in order to give her space.

She held him fast, tugging on his wrist before he could make a full retreat.

He looked to her, question blazing in the depths of his golden eyes. “Katherine?”

“Sit with me,” she instructed, patting the ground next to her in invitation. “Please. I know that you, I mean I know the wraith…I’m cold…”

Understanding, Todd lowered himself to sit next to her, settling down to her immediate left; so close he could feel the length of her uninjured thigh pressed to his. He closed his eyes, concentrating as he willed his internal temperature to raise enough so as to be felt by the female sitting next to him. As he did this, Katherine released his wrist, trailing her hand downwards until she reached the palm of his feeding hand. With a start, Todd felt her fingers ghost over his slit before becoming entwined with his, joint hands pulled to rest in her lap. 

John let out an indignant squawk. “What the hell are you doing!?!” he demanded, staring at his sister as though she’d lost her mind. She was holding hands with Todd. _Todd!_ And what’s more, it was his feeding hand too. What the fuck did she think she was doing?

“Body heat,” Kate snipped at him, in no mood to argue the point that she was, for all intents and purposes, cuddling up with Todd the wraith. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m a little underdressed and it’s frigid in here.”

The colonel scowled. “It’s not _that_ cold.”

His sister’s eyes narrowed. “You’re wearing three layers!” she exclaimed, “I’m wearing one!”

“Yeah but -”

“My body’s using up all my energy trying to heal itself instead of trying to keep me warm – if I don’t raise my core temp soon I’ll freeze!”

Still flustered, John nonetheless deflated. He didn’t like this, no matter what the reasoning seeing his sister holding hands with Todd while pressing herself into his side; it was horrible. Like watching a rat snuggle up with a python, it was just fundamentally wrong.

“Just relax,” Kate chided him, burrowing further into the wraith’s warm side. God he felt good; like a living, breathing hot water bottle. “At least I’m not in his lap.”

The colonel blanched and even Lorne looked a bit greener than normal. With Ryan it was hard to tell and Ronon looked the same as he always did. Strauss had to fight in order to keep his mouth shut lest he give himself away by making some erstwhile comment.

Todd, meanwhile, had stopped raising his temperature only when he was certain Katherine was beginning to warm. Her comment about not being in his lap drove his mind to places it really ought not go. Hard though it was, human or not, it had certainly not escaped _his_ notice she was near nude. He forced himself to dwell on other things, menial things; like calibrating a hyper-drive or the fact she had only sought this closeness out of dire necessity. If not for her condition he doubted she would have allowed him near her.

Beside him, suddenly weary, Kate breathed a heavy sigh before letting her head fall sideways onto his shoulder. She felt him stiffen as though surprised, relaxing in the next breath. Across the aisle, everyone else seemed to have the same idea she did: sleep would not only help pass the time until Ford came back, it’d also help reserve their strength. With this in mind, Kate concentrated on finding rest but it eluded her. She was still too cold. Maybe it’d get better once she was warmer. In vain she hoped it’d be soon…

~xXx~

Time was hard to judge when you were locked in a cell underground but Kate was going to go out on a limb and guess it was probably sometime at night. She had two reasons for thinking this: one, in the last hour or so the air had gotten a couple of degrees colder and two; nobody had come to check on them in at least twice that. Not that she was complaining, the less she saw of her brother’s former teammate the better, but it would’ve been nice to know what time it was. Todd didn’t have a watch, hers had been confiscated and everybody else was asleep. She wasn’t going to wake them, John and Lorne would only start panicking as soon as they saw her – she was pretty sure her lips were turning blue. Her toes had gone numb an hour ago, her fingers were stiff and she’d stopped shivering which was never a good sign. If she didn’t find a way to get warm soon the results wouldn’t be pretty.

“Your temperature is still declining steadily,” said Todd quietly, voice measured so as not to wake the others but yet still loud enough for Katherine’s human ears to hear. “If you do not regain your warmth soon -”

“I know,” she whispered, equally as quiet although more for lack of strength then fear of waking anyone. “I just don’t know what else to do…”

The wraith gave no reply because none was needed. Sheppard and the others had dropped off into slumber some time ago leaving only the two of them awake to while away the hours. It had been some time since last he had fed and so, to conserve energy, he too would have liked to find respite in slumber. But he couldn’t. Try as he might, he could not ignore Katherine’s pain – not when every instinct he possessed demanded he do something to alleviate it. Females were prized by the wraith, treasured because they were so few. Females were the creators of life, the nurtures and the protectors, without them their race would cease to be. Male wraith could give life but they could not make it – that was why his kind had queens. And Katherine; she provoked the same response in him as would a female wraith. It was his duty to try and shelter her, protect her and keep her safe. That he could do nothing while she sat and suffered was nothing short of torturous.

Unaware of Todd’s inner turmoil, Kate’s mind was going over her options. She’d joked with John about being glad she wasn’t in his lap but now she thought of it, Todd’s lap would probably be warmer. The more contact points she had with him the easier the transfer of heat would be so, with this in mind, Kate made her move quickly. Desperate times called for desperate measures and there was ample evidence this qualified.  

Todd startled when he felt Katherine move, relinquishing his hand and arm so she might crawl into the space between his legs. “What are you doing?” he hissed, his entire body stiffening. “Katherine -”

“Oh hush,” she scolded, burrowing herself into his chest. “This is more practical.”

Practical is not the word Todd would have used. Far from it: Katherine’s arms had encircled him, her body pressed to his, their legs entwined. A shift and he could feel the smooth curve of her hip pressing into his groin. Warily his eyes darted towards her brother, hopeful the movement had not woken him. “I do not think Sheppard would appreciate -”

“You have a half-naked woman sprawled all over you and you’re worried about what my _brother_ might think?” Lifting her head, she peered up at him incredulously, “Shut up and put your arms around me.”

Complying, Todd did as instructed; loosely settling his arms about her waist. Katherine groaned contentedly, flexing her fingers against his sides, clutching him closer. What little protest Todd still had promptly vanished.

Growling softly he tightened his hold, drawing her in closer until he could feel every inch of her body pressed somewhere along his. He shifted downwards, reclining slightly in order to offer her a more comfortable position. Already he could feel her settling her weight atop him and, with difficulty, Todd repressed a sigh. In truth, he had longed for this ever since their last encounter. Their dance – having held her body so close to his, hands entwined, able to feel the warmth of her flesh through the thin material of her gown – had awakened a long inhibited desire for physical closeness he had not allowed himself the luxury of feeling several decades. The wraith were not a demonstrative race; the queens cared only for their own pleasures while the males were expected to exercise abstinence and control unless given permission to do otherwise. As such, it was not intimacy Todd craved, although he would not oppose it if offered. What he longed for was contact, unobtrusive and freely given without want of anything in return. In the weeks following McKay’s bonding ceremony and the dance he had shared with Katherine, this yearning had intensified so that now, having her in his arms, feeling the press of her body against his, gave him much more pleasure then it should. So much so he continued drawing her closer, seeking to increase their range of contact; she was now more or less on top of him while his feeding hand had somehow managed to tangle itself in the soft strands of her hair.

“God you’re warm.”

Todd smiled, purring contentedly with the knowledge she was as pleased with this arrangement as he.  “You are comfortable?” he asked, experimentally flexing the fingers of his feeding hand against the base of her scalp, becoming emboldened when he heard her give a groan of satisfaction. 

“Mmmnnn…” Kate mumbled drowsily, now deliciously warm, suddenly aware of her exhaustion now she was no longer in danger of freezing to death. “‘M tired.”

“Then sleep,” the wraith replied, continuing his ministrations to the back of her head while simultaneously he began to caress the small of her back. He was rewarded with another groan, a long sigh and a shift in weight which caused her hip to press more firmly against his groin. It was all he could do to keep himself from reacting, now was not the time.

“I promise I will not allow any harm to come to you.”

Already half asleep, Kate mumbled a reply before letting herself fully relax into him, tension bleeding away as she felt his arms tighten. When she’d first crawled into his lap it’d been all about self-preservation having decided her pride wasn’t worth her life. The warmth had been expected as was a bit of the comfort, it felt good to be able to stretch out; flexing her fingers and toes once the numbness had started to subside. What she hadn’t been expecting, however, was the feeling of security that had perpetuated the minute Todd’s arms had wrapped around her. 

That had shocked her. Tame or not – and she used the word ‘tame’ very loosely – there was no escaping the fact Todd was a predator. His race consumed hers for nourishment and no matter how she dressed that up, snuggling up to him, crawling into his lap for any reason, was a lot like a mouse getting into bed with a cat.  If it weren’t for the much bigger threat of hypothermia she wouldn’t have done it. She had no right to feel so safe and yet, each and every time she felt his arms tighten, she realized Todd wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her.

“Trust you,” she whispered, barely awake at this point. He was so warm and she was so tired. If she was going to heal she really should stop trying to stay awake. “…keep me safe…” and then she was out.

Todd, meanwhile, felt himself swallow; hard.

Against his chest, Katherine’s breathing had evened out and her body had completely relaxed. The severity of her acclaim was not lost on him. In slumber, when the body was at its most vulnerable, trusting another to watch over you, to protect you, was no small thing. It was true the two of them had shared sleeping quarters before but neither of them had slept deeply. They had slept the light sleep of soldiers, resting the body but not the mind; ready to wake at but the slightest provocation. Things were different now. Now Katherine’s mind was at rest as well as her body and, if she were wraith, then Todd felt he would –

He stopped himself.

Continuing his train of thought would accomplish nothing and do him very little good. Katherine was _not_ wraith but, ever since they had met, she had persistently behaved in fashion more similar to his kind then her own. Despite her insistence to the contrary Todd had been around worshipers his entire life and knew them well. Regardless of origin, human sects could not possibly vary _that_ much so therefore it stood to reason Katherine was an anomaly; displaying none of the weaknesses of her race and yet all of their strengths. She was stronger, faster and more intelligent – it was impossible to think of her in the same manner as he did the others because she was not _like_ the others. No matter what she said, the humans of Atlantis would never be equal to the wraith; Katherine herself being the only exception.

Where her brother and other humans failed, she alone had the potential to prove herself worthy. Indeed in many regards she already had. It was pointless to continue denying this; it served no purpose and was detrimental in many ways. Katherine was not _like_ a queen, she _was_ a queen; a queen among humans and perhaps even his own kind if she were ever given the chance. He had to accept it, reconcile it in whatever way he must, and move on. He could not afford to continue lingering over her designation.

With heavy thoughts now swirling inside his mind, ensnaring his conscious, Todd leaned back to rest his head against the wall. He had not fed since before the attack and now he let it, was beginning to feel the effects. His body required respite and now, with Katherine’s safety well assured, he felt it safe to seek his own comfort. The female would continue to slumber and Todd did not plan on sleeping so deeply he would not sense danger were it to approach them.

Closing his eyes, the wraith allowed himself to slip into sleep praying that, come morning, he would wake before Sheppard…

~xXx~

“Hey Sheppard, wake up.”

Coming awake with a jerk, John’s eyes flew open to find Ford crouching in front of him on the other side of the bars. “What do you want?” he asked peevishly, not at all thrilled with his morning wake up call.

Ford snickered. “Thought you’d like to see it, sir,” he said cryptically.

“See what?” the colonel frowned.

“That,” said Ford, twisting to the left so Sheppard could see what was behind him.

John felt his blood freeze, his eyes widen and his heart literally pound to a stop. His sister was asleep in the very back corner of her cell. His sister was asleep, _on top of Todd_. The wraith was propped up in the corner, half-sitting half-lying and with Kate sprawled out across his chest. His arms were wound around her, holding tightly, feeding hand buried in the loose strands of her hair. John was so disturbed he made a strangled sort of sound that woke everybody else up; everybody except Kate.

“Holy shit…” Lorne muttered, taking in the sight that greeted him. For about five seconds he thought he might be hallucinating but then he heard Ronon grunt, Ryan gasp and Strauss snicker. So, not a hallucination then. The major felt like he was gonna be sick.

“At least he didn’t eat her,” said Ford seriously, rising from his crouch. Stealthily he approached their cell, giving the bars a good shake in order to wake its occupants. It worked on the wraith whose eyes snapped open, narrowing to slits when they caught sight of their captor standing over him. Sheppard’s sister, on the other hand, didn’t stir. Instead she sighed in her sleep prompting the creature that held her to tighten his arms and glare, balefully, up at him through the bars.

Hiding his surprise behind a rather nasty snarl, Ford sneered, “Protective are we?”

The answering growl was taken as both a _yes_ and a _I-will-eat-you-if-you-so-much-as-touch-her_ by all who heard it prompting the former lieutenant to turn on his heel and leave after muttering something about bringing them something to eat. In his wake, the heavy iron door slammed shut which woke Kate and caused everyone else to wince.

“Shit!” she exclaimed, startled. Blinking wildly, she pushed herself up and looked around. Almost immediately her eyes found John’s; he looked furious.

“What –”

He didn’t let her finish. “The hell do you think you’re _doing_!?!” he demanded, face pressed angrily against the bars of his cell as though, if he pushed hard enough, he might be able to pass through them. “How did you…why – get the fuck off him!!!”

Shoulders drooping, his sister heaved a sigh. “John -”

He wasn’t having it. Nope, not one bit. “And you!!” he screamed, turning to Todd, “Get your hands off my sister ASAP or I swear to _God_ I’ll kill you when we get out of -”

“JOHNATHAN!”

Still glaring, the colonel nonetheless stopped speaking at the sound of his given name. Kate only called him Johnathan when she was pissed and, looking at her, he could see she was plenty angry. Although about what he had no idea.

“What’re you – ”

“I think you’re overreacting,” she accused. “It’s not that big a deal –”

“Overreacting!?!” he exploded, voice now bordering on the hysterical. “You’re on top of him!!!”

“Not anymore,” Kate pouted.

“But you were!” her brother argued. “I fucking woke up to find you asleep in his fucking lap!!! Do you have any idea what he could’ve done to you if he’d wanted –”

“He’s not gonna eat me!” Kate screamed, “Why do you assume –”

“Because he’s wraith!!”

The super soldier was at her wits end. Whenever they argued, it always seemed to come back to Todd’s species which, quite frankly, was starting to get on her nerves. “Yeah well, you’re a guy; does that mean every woman who gets within two feet of you needs to worry about getting raped?”

John sputtered. “That’s not the same thing,” he protested, “That’s something totally different.”

“No it’s not. You’re bigger, faster and stronger than most women. You’re physically capable of holding one down and forcing yourself on her. You won’t, but you have the ability. Todd has the ability to eat me; he has the ability to do a lot worse than that but that doesn’t mean he will. He’s not some mindless animal who’s got no control over their basic needs anymore then you or I are so stop treating him like he is! He’s not just wraith!!”

Sheppard stared at her, totally and completely taken aback; as if he’d never seen her before. He didn’t wanna admit it but she had a point, several in fact, but that didn’t make the pill any easier to swallow. The way they treated Todd was as much a defensive mechanism as an offensive one. They couldn’t let him get too close because if they did they might discover the wraith weren’t so different than them after all. That there really was more in common between the two races then previously known. Their dealings with Todd had already proved this to some degree. Unlike the other wraith they’d dealt with, Todd was both surprisingly easy to reason with and unusually honorable. He kept his promises and didn’t turn back on his bargains – to date they had yet to meet any other wraith who exhibited such traits.

But despite all this it was still hard to forget what Todd was.  No matter how much they sugarcoated it, he was still wraith; his survival still depended upon the killing of humans. No matter how they dressed him up there was no escaping that one, simple fact. If only Kate could see it. She didn’t, John suspected, because the two of them had a lot of similarities. That was why Woolsey had given her the assignment, because he’d thought she’d be able to connect with Todd on a level no one else could. And he wasn’t wrong; John could see it plain as day and so could Lorne. He and the major had discussed it at length after the mission on M47. Kate and Todd just seemed to click, they understood each other. It was a hell of a lot more of a connection then the wraith had with any of them, himself included. But for as much as they were alike, they were also different and it was John’s opinion his sister tended to overlook that part because of some deep seeded need to be able to share her experiences with someone. And as much as he hated to admit it, Todd really was the only thing around that even came close to being Kate’s contemporary.

Before John could speak however, give a counterargument to his sister’s assertion, the cell block door swung open and one of Ford’s cronies came in baring a tray with several bowls. They were distributed amongst the prisoners save Todd and it was heartening to see Kate able to stand on her own in order to walk over and retrieve her bowl. What was less encouraging was to see her return to Todd, step back into the space between his legs and then sit down. She might not technically be in his lap anymore but she was still too damned close.

“What’re you doing?” he asked her, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. “I thought we-”

“I never actually agree to anything,” Kate said, using her fingers to scoop up a bit of her porridge and take a bite. It was overcooked and slimy but at the moment, she wasn’t exactly in a position to complain. It was better than nothing. “Besides,” she said, swallowing, “I’m still cold.”

“How long you gonna keep using that excuse?” asked Ronon after taking a bite of his own meal. He and the others, he’d noticed, had been given utensils. Kate hadn’t; most likely out of fear she’d find a way to make a weapon. The logic wasn’t far off – about a week ago she’d told him a story about how she’d killed this one guy with a butter knife.

“It’s not an excuse,” she insisted, “It’s a legitimate concern. I’m still half-naked and it’s still really chilly down here. I don’t know about you but I’ve _had_ hypothermia. Trust me, it isn’t fun.”

“When did you have hypothermia?” Ryan asked, trying to steer the conversation into some less turbulent waters. The last thing they needed was for the colonel to zero in on the term ‘half-naked’.

“About three years ago,” Kate explained, taking another bite. “I was in Russia on recon and I fell through some ice. By the time I was fished out my lips’d turned blue. It took me three days just to get warm.”

“Yikes,” Lorne winced, “Bet that wasn’t fun.”

Kate shook her head. “No, not really. To this day I can’t really feel anything in three of my toes.”

“That sucks,” Ronon quipped, shooting her a look of sympathy. “When I was a runner, I got hit in the back with a stunner set t’ full; still can’t feel anything on my life side below the shoulder.”

“My knee goes out every now and then,” Ryan commiserated, “Got my kneecap blown out by a bit of shrapnel. Bethesda did a great job reconstructing it, enough for me to pass regs; but it still ain’t what it used to be.”

“Nothing ever is, usually,” John observed sagely before launching into his own story. From there it turned into a game: who had the most impressive injury. Strauss recounted a harrowing tale in which he was left for dead, Ronon told them all about a couple close calls he had as a runner, Kate narrated in detail just how many times she’d been shot and, eventually, even Todd got sucked into the discussion.

It started with him shaking his head at them while commenting on how humans were so prone to injury. This had led to the colonel demanding to know whether or not he’d ever been seriously injured in the line of duty. Todd had tried to say no and back out of the conversation but after Kate’d elbowed him in the stomach and given him a sort of quelling look, the wraith had given in. He talked of a battle that had taken place during the Lantean/Wraith war in which his ship had been venting atmosphere and, in several places, had caught on fire. In order to reach the escape pods, he and his surviving crew had had to traverse a burning corridor which has resulted in severe burns and smoke inhalation. When Todd got to the part about having to peel off the sections of his armor that’d melted to his skin, the wraith was unanimously declared the winner and the conversation turned towards something less gruesome.

It was Ryan’s idea to start playing _‘Truth or Dare’_.

Wisely Todd decided to sit this one out.

Since they were trapped in a cell underground it was accepted that the likelihood of anybody actually doing a dare was almost nonexistent. Daring someone in this game was more for comedy than anything else. Everything started out innocently enough; I dare you to run around the city naked, I dare you to walk up to Major Teldy and ask her out on a date and so on.

The truths were pretty tame too; who was your first kiss, when’d you lose your virginity, have you ever slept with someone off world, etcetera. They’d gone three rounds before Ford and his men came back, interrupting them right in the middle of John daring Lorne to dress up like Lady Gaga and sing ‘ _Bad Romance’_ for talent night as soon as they got back.

“Now that I’d pay to see,” said Ford, coming to a stop in the center of the aisle. “How was breakfast?”

“Cold,” quipped the colonel, all levity gone. “Was it laced like last time?”

The lieutenant shook his head. “It was clean.”

“You sure?”

“Yes I’m sure!” Ford snapped, “I’m not gonna waste the enzyme on you Sheppard, not after last time.”

Ronon grunted. “That’s nice to know.”

“It is,” said Ford, his expression turned suddenly cold, “But now that you’ve eaten, I think it’s time I get what I want from you.”

John frowned. “I already told you,” he snapped, “Atlantis can’t give you what you want. We don’t have the -”

“One way or another you’ll give in,” Ford shouted over him. “You know I was really hoping it wouldn’t come to this but Sir, you’ve left me no choice.” He pulled a stunner from the holster at his side and held it up, pointing it directly at his former superior. “Open the door boys,” he told his men, “Easy now Sheppard, come out nice and slow.”

The colonel complied; really he didn’t have a choice. One wrong move and he had a feeling he’d loose his head. There was something dangerous about their captor, something…off. Right now was not the time to try his luck.

Keeping his gun trained on Sheppard, Ford gave the order to have his sister and the wraith removed as well. Once the three of them were together, he jerked his head towards the exit indicating they were to walk. After glancing at one another, the three prisoners fell into single file and allowed he and his men to escort them from the cell block.

It took several minutes to arrive at their destination, a specially designed room Ford had had built some time ago. His success with the relay device meant he often had wraith in his prison and wraith, he’d learned, were of themselves useful when it came to motivating people into giving him what he wanted. The room had only two furnishings; a chair with straps and a gurney-type bed also with straps. Sheppard was put into the chair and tied down while his sister was helped onto the bed and then secured. The wraith, Todd, was brought to the bed’s side opposite the chair. He two was strapped in, his feet to the floor and his feeding hand to a harness that forced it to lay flat against Sheppard’s sister’s chest.

It was in that instant, as the last restraint was secured, his prisoners realized what was going on.

“No!” John cursed, struggling against the heavy leather braces that held him bound. “No, you can’t – Todd if you touch her swear I’ll -”

“He won’t have a choice Sir,” Ford explained, raising his gun until it was on Todd. “Either he feeds or I shoot. Unless of course you decide to give me what I want.”

“I’ve already told you! I can’t give you want I don’t have. If Atlantis had the resources then we could trade but the city’s -”

“So that’s the game then huh?” He shrugged, “Alright then,” and shifted his attention to the wraith, “Feed.”

Golden eyes left their resting place amongst grey storm clouds and locked defiantly with their captor’s. “No.”

Ford shifted, confused. Why was he refusing? No wraith had ever refused a free meal. “Feed,” he said again, more insistently this time, “Feed or I’ll shoot you.”

“Go ahead,” Todd snarled at him. “You may do as you wish. I will not betray Katherine’s trust.”

Black eyes widened in surprise and agitation. “Feed,” he demanded.

“No,” was Todd’s same reply although it came with slightly more difficulty. The warmth of Katherine’s flesh pressed so tantalizingly against his feeding slit had begun to stir his hunger, bringing it to the forefront of his thoughts before he could stop it.

Ford insisted again. _“Feed.”_

And he still resisted. “I will not.”

The human was growing agitated. “You will, I’ll shoot you if you don’t.”

“You cannot make me,” he growled back, his body tensed tight, like a bow string, from the effort of resisting. Katherine’s life force beckoned him, calling like a siren’s song and he was hard pressed to try and restrain his sudden need for it. The need burned, licking at his insides as though a fire had been kindled in the pit of his belly. He ached to take her, to drain her, to use her energy to replenish his own.

“Watch me!” cried Ford, fingering the trigger on his weapon. He would shoot if the wraith didn’t hurry up and eat her. Just a taste, Sheppard wouldn’t cooperate unless he felt his sister was in real danger.

“This is insane,” screamed John, desperately straining against the chair’s straps. “Ford, think about what you’re doing -”

“Shut up Sheppard!” the lieutenant yelled, gaze flickering to the colonel’s for just a second.

Todd was starting to waver, his concentration slipping. Kate could see it _and_ feel it. The skin on her sternum and breasts was slick with enzyme which was flowing freely, weeping, from the wraith’s open feeding slit. He wasn’t gonna last much longer and Kate couldn’t really blame him. If she’d been told to stand there with a hamburger in her mouth but not to take a bite she’d be struggling too. She needed him to look at her, to see she wasn’t angry – to know in no way did she blame him for what was happening.

“Todd.”

He looked at her; strange, reptilian eyes reflecting fear. He was afraid.

“It’s okay,” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the sounds of John and Ford arguing in the background. “Really, it’s going to be…I don’t blame you…”

“We’ll see about that!” exclaimed Ford, his angry voice drowning out hers, pushing his conversation with the colonel’s back to the forefront.

In his chair, John Sheppard thrashed wildly, desperate to get free; to stop this. “Ford! Ford wait, you can’t _do_ this! Please don’t do this!!”

“Todd…” she whispered, still trying to assure him, “…Todd…”

His reply was broken and hallow sounding, “Kath-er-ine…”

 _“_ Forgive me…” he pleaded then, with his mind, _‘Forgive me. Katherine…please, I cannot hold…’_

“Ford!” John was still screaming, watching the lieutenant as he fingered his trigger. “Ford, don’t! Stop -”

_BANG!_

Time slowed. The bullet left the barrel of the gun and sped through the air, tearing through the flesh and muscle of Todd’s shoulder before burying itself somewhere near his scapula. The searing pain traveled first down his spine and then out to his extremities, calling on his instincts to staunch the sting. He had no choice, his body gave him none. Against his will Todd found himself pressing down with his hand, chelicerae sliding smoothly into flesh as the proboscis greedily began to draw out Katherine’s life force. A rush of euphoria suddenly enveloped him, stealing his breath. Never had he tasted such strength, such invigorating defiance. Not even Sheppard had filled him the way his sister was filling him now, playing his senses; teasing him from the inside out. Her energy was as intoxicating and simulative as the sweetest wine. He could drain her dry and yet still desire more…

Beneath his hand Kate writhed, almost delirious from the pain. Her veins felt like they were on fire, screaming, as though all her blood had been turned to acid. She was going to die, she could feel it. Her life force was being eaten away, slipping from her grasp like grains of the finest sand. She couldn’t hold it, couldn’t grasp it. There was nothing she could do but hope and pray it would all end soon…

It did.

As suddenly as it had come the pain began to fade and then it reversed completely. Glorious rapture suddenly filled her like a rush of adrenaline, giving her a strength she’d experienced only once before – the first time she’d lifted something after the NC26 serum had taken hold. Grey eyes flew open into golden orbs filled with concentration and pain. He was giving her the gift, she realized, the gift of life. Todd was filling her with strength and with stamina so that she could break free and end this torturous game once and for all.

Time reordered as Kate used the strength she’d been given and surged upwards, breaking through the restraints that’d held her bound. With a speed even she didn’t normally possess she leapt off the table and tackled Ford to the ground before he had time to so much as blink.

“What the -” was all he managed before Kate clocked him full in the face, knocking him out cold.

John, bewildered by the sudden turn in events, stared at her and stopped trying to tip his chair over. “How’d you -”

“Not now,” Kate snapped, coming to his side only long enough to free his hands before returning to the table and Todd. She undid his feet first and then gently took slid his hand from the harness. This proved to be the only thing still keeping him up and, once free of it, the wraith collapsed.

Kate caught him but only barely. God he was heavy! She’d thought so before when she’d had to haul his ass up into an air vent but now he was dead weight; she was lucky she didn’t drop him. 

“Todd?” she called, inserting herself under one of his arms in order to keep him standing. She wrapped her arms around his waist to brace him and spread her feet until they were shoulder width apart. “Todd?” she called again.

Atlantis’ ally was panting, his breaths coming in and out in labored puffs. His lungs burned and his body begged for either the sweet surrender of sleep or the euphoric rush of feeding. He doubted he was in the position to receive either. “I…I am…I will recover,” he managed, clinging to the female for strength and support as a child might cling to its motem. He despised needing her in such a way but had known himself to be in no position to save himself or his human allies. It had had to be Katherine and so it was to her he had given all his strength, bolstering her own vitality to the point at which she had been able to break free, putting an immediate stop to this insane madness.

Her voice interrupted his thoughts. “You need to feed.”

John yelped. “What!?!”

Kate repeated herself. “He needs to feed.” Silver eyes found his and held, “You gave me too much.”

Todd shook his head. “I…had to be…certain…you would…break free…”

“And now look at you,” she quipped, shifting her hold on him in order to transfer some of his weight back onto the gurney. “You need to feed,” she said again.

He looked at her. “And who do you suggest I consume?” he asked with a growl. “Unless, you are volunteering -”

“Not me,” she interrupted, nodding at the still unconscious Ford. “Him.”

Todd blinked.

John sputtered. “Oh no!” he argued, starting forwards. “Ford’s got a lot to answer for; we’re taking him back to Atlantis – ”

Bending down, Kate retrieved the pistol the lieutenant had used to shoot Todd and raised it towards her brother.

He froze. “What’re you – ”

His sister’s eyes were as cold as glass and as hard as steel. “He needs to feed,” she repeated a third time, leaving Todd where he was and keeping the pistol trained on John as she went to Ford and kicked him awake.

He sat up with a groan to find a stony faced Kate over him. “What’re -”

“Shut up,” she ordered, hauling him up by the arm and then maneuvering him into position in front of Todd. Never once did she drop the gun or take her eyes off her brother. She didn’t trust him not to try and stop her.

“You can’t do this,” he said, somehow hoping to get through to her. He didn’t know what possessed her but she couldn’t just feed Ford to Todd. The lieutenant might deserve to die but only after he’d had a fair trial. She couldn’t just kill him, it didn’t work like that. “Katie Beth. Kate. Major Sheppard! Stop! That’s an order, let him -”

“You can’t give me orders remember.” Her attention turned to Todd, the wraith was watching her. “Go ahead, eat.”

Suddenly realizing what was happening, what the woman was about to do, Ford started to struggle. It didn’t help, no matter how hard he pulled he couldn’t break free. “Please,” he begged, “You can’t – ”

“I thought I told you to shut up?” growled Kate, squeezing his arm until he let out a sharp cry of pain. “And to borrow your phrase, I can and I will.”

John, meanwhile, had started forwards intent of disarming the situation. A single shot rang out and stopped him, stupefied, in his tracks. He looked down; there was a bullet buried two inches from the end of his boot. His eyes flew back up to his sister, “Kate -”

Her eyes never left Todd’s. “He saved me, now I’m saving him.”

The wraith looked at her unable to make out what she hoped to gain by forcing this. “What are you -”

“There’s no motive, I’m not doing this to gain ground or make progress or anything like that,” she explained easily, lifting her chin. “If you don’t believe me, look in my mind. Thoughts don’t lie, you told me that.”

“Yes but…” he hesitated, clearly unsure, “I do not want to, that is…I’ve no wish to go against your wishes. Have you not told me – ”

“My problem last time was with consent which I didn’t give - that’s not the case this time. This time, I’m inviting you.”

Still uncertain, the gravity of what Katherine was allowing him to do was not lost on him. Carefully, with great subtlety and tact, Todd extended his mind and slipped it unobtrusively into hers. He was immediately met with an overwhelming sense of compassion and empathy for while she couldn’t really sympathize with him in his current state, she could and did understand. And she was right, there was no hidden motive nor nefarious reasoning – he could detect no deceitfulness in her thoughts. Only the desire to help, to heal and to repay. Todd had saved her life first by keeping her warm and then again by giving her the strength to defeat a common enemy. The least she could do was offer him something he needed in return.

Withdrawing, the eldest of wraith held her gaze with his for barely a fraction of a second but in that fraction a startling revelation dawned. As Katherine trusted him so too did he trust her.

Explicitly.

“You will not want to watch,” he told her gently, accepting her offer of nourishment in the form of their former captor. The human was openly crying now, begging for mercy. Neither he nor Katherine gave any indication of acknowledge him, “You needn’t stay.”

Kate shook her head. “You can’t hold him on your own,” she insisted, refusing the invitation to spare her sensibilities. “John, you go.”

Her brother stared at her, aghast she would even suggest it. “If you think I’m just gonna let you _feed_ him Ford you’re out of your -”

“Head back to the cells and free the others, start heading back to the gate,” she countered him, “We’ll follow once we’re done.”

His shoulders tensed. “I said I’m not going -”

His sister rounded on him, silver eyes blazing behind a mask of otherwise notable indifference. “I said go. Now! Five seconds colonel or I’ll do something you really won’t like.”

The threat, for good or bad, worked and John retreated although his expression promised retribution later on after they got back to the city. Kate didn’t care; this was between her and Todd and, once they were alone – with Ford – she turned back to look at him.

“Ready?”

He nodded, steading himself while raising his feeding hand to the human’s chest. “I will remember this,” he told her, golden eyes unflinching as they held hers; holding them both in place. “I know you do this not for gain but, nonetheless, I will remember.”

“So will I,” she whispered although her words were lost in Ford’s terrified scream as the wraith in front of him began to feed. “So will I.”


	6. Maternal Instinct

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mission to save Todd's life as some unforseen circumstances. Nothing's ever easy when there's a baby involved...

**Episode VI: Maternal Instinct**

Dr. Jennifer McKay was in a bad mood. It was twofold. The first part had to do with being in the city a grand total of ten minutes after returning from her honeymoon, before getting called down to the infirmary.  The second part had to do with, upon getting there, being greeted by the trifecta of uncooperative patients: Colonel Sheppard, Major Sheppard and Todd. And they were arguing, of course they were arguing because it was impossible for the three of them to be in the same room and _not_ argue. Jennifer could feel the headache before it arrived.

Damn – so much for easing back into it.

“Hey guys?”

Nothing.

“Guys?”

Still nothing. Her patience was waning and she’d been at it less than a minute.

“GUYS!”

Finally, they stopped. With a sigh, Jennifer walked over and asked, none too politely, what was going on.

Kate turned to her and pointed at Todd. “He needs to feed,” she announced sounding exasperated, like something about her statement was hard to gasp, “I don’t even know why we’re here I mean, a trip to the doctor isn’t gonna fix -”

“He just ate!” her brother broke in sounding equally frustrated. “Weren’t you watching? You fucking fed him!”

Jennifer felt her eyes go wide.

“I didn’t feed him,” Kate scoffed, crossing her arms as she rolled her eyes, “I just helped hold -”

“Exactly!” Sheppard exclaimed, waving a finger at her in accusation, “You held Ford still while Todd drained him dry. In my book, that counts as feeding him!”

Wait, Ford? As in the Lieutenant? If possible Jennifer was even more confused. Seriously, what the hell was going on?

Kate was talking. “Well, your book’s stupid!” she replied and even to her, it sounded like a retort more suited to the schoolyard then the sick bay in an ancient alien city a couple hundred light-years from Earth. Unfortunately, it was all she had which was sad in and of itself.

But at least John wasn’t any better off. “And yours is obviously missing a few pages!” he shouted back, “You shot me!”

She rolled her eyes. He was still on that, really? “I shot _at_ you, there’s a difference.”

“Not much of one!” he snarled, “You pointed a gun at my head!”

“You didn’t give me a choice!” she bit back, “If I had lowered it you would’ve tried to stop me!”

“Of course, I would’ve tried to stop you!” he screeched. Jennifer thought he looked about ready to have a stroke. “ _You. Fed. Him. FORD_!”

“He deserved it!” Kate screamed, “He used Todd as bait, held us all captive, shot me FIVE times, threatened to rape me, let his men grope me, shot Todd to make him feed on me and threatened to shoot you!!! Trust me; he got exactly what he –”

“That’s not for you to –”

“ENOUGH!” Jennifer screamed, outburst cutting off all conversation. The infirmary fell silent and, in the background, the good doctor could see her nurses scurrying away like rats abandoning a sinking ship. They knew she was at her wits ends and, as the saying goes, beware the anger of a quiet man.

In this case, it was the wrath of a usually quiet, mild mannered _woman_ the three of them needed to be afraid of. If there was one thing that never failed to get Jennifer riled up it was a ruckus in her infirmary and right at this moment, the Sheppard siblings were causing quite possibly the biggest ruckus of all. Even Todd had never caused this much of a disturbance. In fact, Jennifer wasn’t sure she’d heard him speak since her arrival. He was just sorta _there_ – sitting awkwardly on the bed next to Kate. And that was another thing: based on the way her friend was standing, kinda half turned with her back to him, it looked almost like she was trying to protect him.

What the hell had she walked into?

“Okay,” she said, turning first to the colonel and then to Kate. John was fine; Jennifer had assessed that quiet easily. He was pissed, and looked about ready to shit a brick, but he wasn’t bleeding or breathing shallowly which was more than she could say for the other two. Kate was barefoot, bra-less and covered in blood while Todd was eerily still and breathing raggedly. Given the former’s state of dress however, a grey tank top and a pair of black boy-short underwear, and the bruises dotting her arms and legs Jennifer decided the major was probably the worst of the three.

“Are you okay?” she asked her friend, frowning in obvious concern.

Kate waved it away impatiently. “I’m fine.”

The doctor didn’t believe her. “You’re an even worse liar then your brother,” she accused, “How are you really – and don’t you _dare_ say you’re fine!”

“It’s not as bad as it looks, really. I’m –”

“Didn’t I hear you say you were shot?”

“I healed.”

The new bride still wasn’t buying it. “I’ve read your med files,” she reminded the super solider, “You don’t heal _that_ fast. Not after being shot _five_ times.”

“I might’ve had a little…help.”

 “Oh?”

She nodded but didn’t elaborate. Jennifer was just about to ask her to explain herself when she heard Todd speak.

“I administered Katherine the gift,” he rasped flatly, dual-tones suspiciously absent, betraying his tiredness.

Reflexively, Jennifer reached for him; the caregiver aspect of her nature making it impossible not to.  “Are you okay?” she asked, “You sound horrible.”

His shoulder jerked under the gentle pressure of her hand, the pain reminding him he was yet still injured. “I am fine,” he lied, stealing the human phrase, confident they would question him no further as their concern only extended so far. But, while true of Sheppard, the same could not be said of Katherine.

“Bullshit,” she snapped surprising him, and everyone else, with her ferocity; convinced he was only saying that to avoid admitting his weakness. And although Kate knew herself sometimes guilty of doing the same thing, now was not the time for subterfuge. Especially as she had a sneaky suspicion he was still bleeding. “He needs to feed,” she reiterated.

“He _just_ ate!” John wailed obstinately refusing to give up his argument despite the fact Todd sounded worse now than he had when he’d first met him. “If Ford wasn’t enough I’m sorry. He’s not getting seconds!”

“So, you’re denying him food?” Kate asked, “According to the Geneva Convention, you can’t do that.”

Her brother was getting exasperated. “Todd’s not a prisoner, the Convention only applies to –”

“So, if he was a _prisoner_ you’d feed him?”

“Not exactly.” He groaned, “Look, if he ate normal food I’d feed him in a heartbeat but he doesn’t. Hell, if he ate normal food, I’d put on an apron and bake him a damned cake myself but it doesn’t work that way. He eats _people_ Kate and yeah, I’ll admit, Ford deserved to die but he also deserved a trial and the chance to defend -”

“On Earth, yeah,” Kate retorted, “But we’re not on Earth so Earth laws don’t apply -”

“You just tried to use the Geneva Convention against me!” he reminded her, “You can’t have it both ways, what’s good for the goose -”

“– Isn’t necessarily good for the gander,” Kate finished, “Normal is a perspective. What’s normal for the spider is chaos for the fly. We don’t get to decide his normal is wrong just because it doesn’t match up with ours. You love bacon right? How do you think the pig feels!?!”

John wanted to strangle her. How could he make her understand? Yeah, okay, her analogy was pretty accurate but it still wasn’t quite the same. Pigs and cows and goats and whatever else humans ate weren’t sentient and they also weren’t alive when they were put on the dinner table. If suddenly pigs could talk and every time somebody went to slaughter one, it turned to the butcher and said, _‘Don’t eat me!’_ John’d never eat another piece of bacon ever again. But baring that, it just wasn’t the same.

“You don’t understand. I can’t just let you –”

“So don’t!” Kate argued, “I’m not asking you to participate. Just let me take him off-world –”

“– So you can help him go murder someone? I don’t think so!”

“It’s not murder!”

“We’re talking about a human life!”

“We’re talking about _his_ life. Which is more important to you; Todd or some nameless, faceless person you’ve never met?”

“That’s not fair! You can’t just expect me to –”

“Stop! Stop it,” Jennifer cried, “Just _STOP_!”

Immediately both siblings fell silent and, after exhaling a sigh through her nose, the doctor looked, frustrated, between the two of them as though silently choosing which one to start in on first.

She chose Kate. “Now,” she prompted, “Explain to me _why_ do you think Todd needs to feed?”

The major took a deep breath. “His hive was damaged, he landed it for repairs. Ford killed his crew and then took him captive. It’d been nine days since he last fed by the time we –”

“How the hell do you know _that_?” John demanded, interrupting her mid-sentence.

Kate glared at him, Todd growled.

“We discussed it,” the wraith explained, tired of listening to Sheppard disparage his sister for something that was not her fault. None of this was her fault and yet, for some reason, she’d decided to take up the mantle of his defense; redirecting her brother’s ire at him onto herself. He did not understand it, but he would protect her from it if he could – he owed her that.

“When?” the human wanted to know.

“Does it matter?” he inquired, already tired of Sheppard’s impertinence. Was it so impossible to simply take the information given and be satisfied? Must there always be a litany of more questions?

The colonel crossed his arms. “I say it does.”

For a moment, Todd considered refusing him then thought better of it. If Sheppard wanted an answer then he would give him one; two could play at that game. “During the night cycle, while you and the others slept, Katherine and I conversed.”

The way he said it, and judging by the expression on his face, the wraith was trying to get a rise out of him and – loath though he was to admit it – he was successful. “Was this before or after she decided to crawl into your lap?”

Todd’s lip curled while, to the side, Jennifer felt her eyes widen. She glanced at Kate hoping she’d deny it only to receive an unapologetic shrug.

“Why is that of any relevance?” asked Todd, trying – and failing – to sound as though the colonel’s question wasn’t a legitimate concern.

John glared at him.

“It isn’t,” said Jennifer quickly, putting an end to the testosterone fueled pissing match that was keeping her from getting the full story. She turned back to Kate, “Continue,” she said patiently.  

The woman nodded. “So anyway, he was already hungry when we got there, we were in Ford’s cells for at least a day and then later, when Todd refused to feed on me, Ford shot him.”

“Causing a reactionary response,” the doctor frowned, quickly looking Kate up and down. Other than the feeing mark on her sternum, which was barely visible under her ruined tank top, she didn’t appear any older. “How much did he take?”

“Not much. He fed for all of about twenty seconds before he stopped, reversed it and then gave it all back plus some. I’ll put it this way, after I got him out of the harness he was strapped into, he collapsed.”

Understanding and sympathy coursed through her as the full extent of Todd’s ordeal was revealed. A starving wraith, injured to provoke a reactionary feeding, had fought his instincts in order to return the life he’d taken to the determent of his own health. All thoughts of siding with the colonel vanished and were replaced instead with worry for the wraith in question.

“So, Ford wasn’t enough then, obviously?”

Grimly Kate shook her head. “Not by a long shot. Ford gave him just enough strength to walk and even then we had to stop a couple of times on the way back to the gate.”

“What about his bullet wound? Where did Ford shoot him?”

“In the shoulder.”

“I should probably take a look at it and make sure it’s healing properly,” she turned to Todd, “Which shoulder?”

He grunted, pointing tiredly at his left shoulder.

“Can you get your coat off?”

Again, he grunted a response before reaching for his throat and the hidden clasps to his battle-coat, fatigue adding a level of difficulty to the task not normally present. His fingers stiff, barely able to maneuver, he grew frustrated quickly; abandoning the fastenings in favor of a much simpler task. He managed to remove his belt but only after he fumbled the buckle twice.

Kate watched him until she could no longer stand it. “Here,” she offered, brushing his hands aside as she stepped closer, her own making quick work of the buttons and hooks holding his coat together. Todd allowed it only because he was too weak to protest.  She looked at Jennifer, “Can you get his bracers off?”

Nodding, the doctor moved forwards to help while Sheppard, unable to abide the sight of watching his sister undress _anybody_ much less Todd, turned away. Between the two of them, they were able to peel back enough layers to allow Jennifer a thorough examination of the wound.

She frowned at what she saw.

“It’s still bleeding.” Gently, she touched her gloved fingers to the outside edge of the hole. “This is going to hurt, but I’ve got to check for the bullet.”

After preparing himself, Todd nodded for her to proceed. A sharp hiss of pain escaped him as her finger slid into the wound, probing for the projectile still lodged in his flesh. He bit down in an attempt to stifle any more sounds and instead tasted blood. She pushed further, every millimeter feeling as though it were a mile and while Todd – desperate to remain strong – clenched his hands on the edges of his bed; he felt a cool hand come to rest at his uninjured shoulder. He recognized the touch, was familiar with it despite the relative few times he had felt it. _Katherine_ , his mind supplied. Never had he been more thankful to receive comfort from a human.

“Well?” John prompted, uncomfortable with the amount of pain Todd was obviously in. John wasn’t sadistic; he got absolutely no pleasure out of seeing the wraith bleed, not like Ronon. He didn’t want him to have to suffer like this but, at the same time he couldn’t completely reconcile himself with what needed to be done in order to spare him.

At least not yet.

“It’s still in there. It’s lodged in pretty good – maybe a couple of centimeters,” retracting her finger, Jennifer grimly faced her patient. “It’s almost like your body started to heal around it but stopped before it could finish.”

With the proof staring him straight in the face, John was finally on the same page as everyone else. “So he needs to feed.”

The doctor nodded. “Yes.”

John sighed. “Can’t you just take the bullet out and then see how he’s doing?”

“I can,” she said, “But I can already tell you it won’t be enough.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he replied, fully understanding that by this point he was only prolonging the inevitable. Things were pretty clear, they were gonna have to feed him. The only questions still remaining were when, where and who.

He needed to talk to Woolsey.

“I’m gonna get outta your hair. Radio me when you’re done with him or, better yet, just come to the briefing room,” John said, already backtracking out of the room. He was tired of being there and, without so much as a backwards glance, quickly made his way out of the infirmary.

Jennifer turned her attentions to Todd. “I’m going to give you a sedative and some morphine to help with the pain,” she looked at Kate, “Can you stay with him while I go get the supplies?”

Before she could reply Todd released a low growl, indignant at the thought of needing a minder. “I do not require –”

“Oh hush,” shushed Kate, joining him on the bed. This earned her a questioning look to which she replied with, “You’re not the only one who’s exhausted,” followed by, accompanied with a sigh, “I’m tired.”

“Did you not sleep well?” he asked.

“I slept okay.” There was a small smile playing with the corners of her lips, “You make a surprisingly good pillow.”

Her companion raised a brow-ridge. “Am I to assume that is a compliment?”

“You should,” she affirmed, “I don’t normally sleep well with others.”

“Do you not?”

She shook her head. “Not usually. I think it’s got something to do with training. You know: constant vigilance, never let your guard down.” She glanced sideways, grey eyes catching gold, “You’re the first person I’ve slept with in over seven years.”

Pride, from an unknown source, filled him – pleasing him far more than it should. “Then I am honored,” he whispered, duel tones almost a purr.

Feeling suddenly mischievous Kate turned to him and smirked, “Maybe we can do it again sometime.”

His features slackened with surprise. Surely, she was not seriously suggesting…

“Relax,” said Kate, chuckling softly at the look on his face. Wraith were not meant to look bewildered. “I’m playing with you.”

It took a moment for Todd to realize he was actually disappointed. The doctor’s return however, stopped him before he had a chance to reply.

“Okay,” she announced, appearing back at his side with a silver tray upon which lay several instruments and a small bottle. She set it aside asking that he lay down which first required Katherine to give up her seat. Todd had a very slight moment of panic at the thought that she might be leaving him – one which he resolved to examine further at a later date. He speculated it had something to do with having grown accustomed with her presence. It was a surprise to realize that it had now been three full days since she and the others had been captured and, for nearly two of those days, Katherine had shared his immediate proximity. It was alarming how comfortable with her he had become that the mere thought of her leaving should cause him such worry.

However thankfully, she did not retreat far; taking up vigil on his opposite side while Jennifer cleansed the wound and prepared it for extraction. A needle pricked his skin and, after a moment’s discomfort, Todd began to feel blissfully numb as the pain emanating from his injury began to fade. That would be the morphine – perhaps when he was fit again he could make inquires as to how he might obtain a stock of the drug for his own hive’s infirmary.

As Todd’s lids began to close Jennifer turned to Kate. “You don’t have to stay you know. I can take him from here.”

Kate was hesitant to leave, shifting nervously from foot to foot. “But what if -”

“There’s nothing for you to do except watch me operate,” Jennifer insisted, “Go take a shower or something; eat, get dressed. I’ll call you when I’m done.”

While not quite a _‘get-the-hell-out-of-my-infirmary’_ Kate supposed it was close enough. Unlike her brother she could take a hint. “Alright fine,” she surrendered, backing away, “Radio me when you’re done; I wanna be here when he wakes.”

Nodding, Jennifer watched her go before turning her attention back to Todd’s shoulder. Once she was sure he was out cold, she put her hand on the wound and then reached for her forceps… 

~ xXx~

True to her word Jennifer radioed Kate to the infirmary once the wraith’s sedatives wore off. She arrived to find the doctor dismayed that Todd was still bleeding and the wound wasn’t closing. While Jennifer administered a numbing agent and a coagulant to stop the bleeding, Kate hovered.  And when Todd had a reaction to the Alphanate, which sent him into anaphylactic shock, the marine was charged with holding him down while several doctors and nurses flushed the wound, bound it and then re-administered localized sedatives. Once they were sure he wasn’t going to die, at least not immediately, Jennifer had him try to stand. The result was less than satisfactory – severely weakened Todd made several attempts only to be met with repetitive failure. On his last one, he collapsed back into his bed hissing and spitting and growling at anyone who got within ten feet of him. The only one allowed near him was Kate.

Jennifer called Woolsey for an emergency meeting. 

“He’s too weak to stand much less _go_ anywhere,” she reported, sighing wearily. “I just…I don’t know what else to do.”

“Well you’ll have to think of something Doctor,” replied Woolsey, steadily gazing at her from the other end of the table. “If he dies, Atlantis will lose its foothold. Our expedition will have failed.”

Now there was a sobering thought. Colonel Sheppard frowned, “Since when has our mission depended on Todd?” he wondered aloud, “I liked it better when we were allowed to shoot him.”

“You still threaten to all the time,” Kate reminded him, “And yet you never do.”

Her brother scowled. “Because I know we need him which is horrifyingly sad in and of itself.” He crossed his arms, “So what’er our options?”

“Not a whole hell of a lot,” said Lorne sadly. “Way I see it; we’ve really only got two. Either we go out and find somebody for him to eat and bring them back here -”

“Not gonna happen,” Sheppard declared.

“– or we find somebody willing to volunteer.”

As opposed as he was to the first suggestion the second one was even less inviting. “You want us to ask one of our people to let Todd feed on them!?!” the colonel exclaimed, “Are you fucking nuts!?!?!”

“Why can’t we just put him in one of the stasis pods like we did before?” asked Jennifer as she looked along the table, “Then we can -”

“But that won’t solve the problem,” Kate argued, “Putting him in stasis won’t heal him and when it comes time to take him out again he’ll still be starving. No, the only option _I_ see is Lorne’s second idea.”

The entire table blinked at her. “Is that so?” John blinked, “And just who’re you expecting to volunteer?”

“Me.”

The colonel exploded. “The fuck you are!!” he shouted, “You can’t seriously think I’d let -”

“And there you go again thinking you have power over _anything_ I do.” Kate scowled, turning to Woolsey, “I’m not suggesting we let him drain me dry, I’m suggesting we let him take enough of me to heal so that we can take him off world. Then, once he’s fed, he can give it back.”

“Do you think he will?” the director was skeptical. They couldn’t threaten him and he knew it. Without incentive, what guarantee did they have that he’d give her her life back? Todd wasn’t exactly known for being generous.

But Kate seemed sure. “He will. He’s paid back every debt he’s owed me so far. I’m confident he’ll pay this one too.”

“What debts?” Jennifer was curious.

Her brother, meanwhile, didn’t share her optimism. “I think you’re giving him too much credit.”

“He did it for you,” Kate reminded him.

John still wasn’t convinced. “Yeah but that was after he’d been imprisoned for like, thirty years or something. He probably wasn’t thinking straight. If called on to do it again, now, under the same circumstances; I’m not so sure he would.”

His sister frowned. “I may be giving him too much credit, but _you_ never give him enough.” She stood, crossing her arms defiantly as she stared down the table at Woolsey. “I’m doing this,” she announced, “Just think of it was another trust building exercise.”

“Some exercise,” Lorne muttered. “I don’t see this ending well.”

Richard Woolsey was inclined to agree. “Are you sure about this?” he asked, taking a moment to study her. He knew her reasons, her real ones, even if nobody else did. She felt obligated – because of her assignment she felt it was her duty to take responsibility for the wraith’s welfare.  He understood, he did, just as he also understood doing this would likely endear her to Todd more so then anything they’d done before. He just wasn’t sure the price for the wraith’s loyalty was worth her life.

“What if he doesn’t –”

“He will,” Kate insisted with confidence, sincerely hoping her assumption of his honor wasn’t just wishful thinking. She was gambling quite a bit on being right. “I know he will.”

Her determination was evident and since the odds of talking her out of it were slim, Woolsey nodded his consent. “Alright,” he said, pinching his nose as he looked back at the woman who was about to offer up part of her life in order to secure the continued safety of the city. If put in her position, he wasn’t certain he could be called upon to do the same. It was a Sheppard thing he decided and as unsavory as the idea was, the alternative was worse. Maybe if they hadn’t grown so dependent on Todd or if their continued existence wasn’t hinged on the wraith’s continued goodwill. Not for the first time, Richard found himself damning Todd; cursing the white haired demon straight to hell.

“Just make sure he understands it’s temporary and that if he doesn’t give it back, there will be consequences.”

With a nod of acknowledgement, she snapped a salute and then took her leave. In her wake, Woolsey turned to the others all of whom were looking at him with various expressions of disbelief. As though they couldn’t believe what he’d just agreed to.

“She would have done it anyway,” he offered in explanation, sighing heavily. “Even if I’d refused, she still would have –”

“Yeah, we get it,” Lorne snapped, unceremoniously cutting Woolsey off. He stood, unable to stomach just sitting there while one of his teammates went off and got turned into a wraith snack, “Doesn’t mean we have to like it.”

Meanwhile, Kate had arrived in the infirmary and quickly made her way to the observation room. Just outside the door there was a cluster of nurses all of whom looked both grim and frightened. From inside Kate could hear soft growls and hisses.  Apparently her absence, though short, had done nothing to improve his mood.

“How’s he doing?”

“Not well,” the head nurse, Marie, replied. “He’s not responding to treatment and he _still_ won’t let any of my staff get near him. If you’re going in there, be careful. He’s extremely…volatile.”

“Understatement of the year,” mumbled Kate under her breath. “Could you do me a favor?” she asked

Marie nodded, “Of course Major.”

“We’ve come up with something we think might help but I’m gonna need to go in there. Can you – after I go in – can you seal the door and turn off all the cameras?  I know it’s not exactly protocol but…let’s just say I don’t exactly want an audience.”

Her intentions were clear, even if her words weren’t. “You’re going to let him feed on you aren’t you?”

The major gave a solemn nod.

Marie smiled sadly and promised her she’d let her have her privacy before shooing off the other nurses, leaving Kate to herself. With a deep breath the super solider squared her shoulders and then went inside. Todd was exactly where she’d left him, confined to the bed in the center of the room looking extremely displeased with his circumstance. When the door opened he perked up, turning towards her with a snarl that died on his lips the moment his eyes met hers.

“You came back.”

Cautiously Kate began making her way forwards. “I said I would.”

Watching lazily through hooded eyes as she neared, Todd hissed, “Saying and doing are sometimes very different. I was uncertain you would be allowed given my current condition.”

She raised an eyebrow, halting at his bedside. “You mean the hissing and the snarling?” She smirked, “Yeah, you’ve been doing great with your impression of a wet cat.”

His knowledge of Earth-bred felines was limited but he knew enough to know that her description, though somewhat demeaning, was nonetheless accurate. He was also not so ill as to miss her mischievous lilt or the roughish expression worn in her eyes. “Still playing, Katherine?” His voice was a low growl, “I would have thought the time for games had past.”

She shrugged. “I was trying to lighten the mood.”

“To what end?”

“We’ve decided what to do with you.”

All levity promptly vanished leaving the space between them empty and charged. “Am I to die then?” he asked, hands angrily clenching at the bedsheets under him, sharp nails ripping the fabric. “No doubt you realize I lack the strength to travel off-world. And unless Sheppard plans on finding me another criminal on which to feed –”

“I volunteered.”

Confusion swiftly replaced the tension as Todd stared back at her, unsure of her meaning. What, exactly, had she volunteered for? To hunt for him? Locate a human from which to gain sentience? Surely she could not mean…

“You’ll have to give it back,” she said, confirming his latent suspicions. “And you obviously can’t have it all but you can take enough to ah…heal.”

“You…” he shook his head, still unsure he’d heard correctly. “You are offering yourself?”

Swallowing thickly, Kate nodded. “It’s the only way,” she explained, dropping her eyes as her hands began to tremble. “You’re not strong enough to go off world and John’d never let us go out and _find_ you somebody so, since I knew nobody else would volunteer, I -”

No less stunned by her validation Todd couldn’t help but stare while, unbidden, a latent excitement beginning to peel through him with the knowledge he would soon be fed and as the shock began to subside, the memory of her taste was brought into startling clarity at the forefront of his mind. His slit opened leaking enzyme onto the shredded bed linens. It took every ounce of self-control he still retained not to grab her, his willing victim, and drain her dry. Only his regard for her stayed his hand and even then, it took tremendous effort.

“You’re sure?” his voice rattled, anticipation so thick he was practically panting. “If you are not –”

“I’m sure,” she settled, cutting him off before he could finish giving her an out. There was no one else, if she didn’t do this he’d die and Atlantis, and all her allies, would suffer for it. Kate couldn’t let that happen and so when it looked like Todd might ask her again, one more time, if she was sure, she decided to take matters into her own hands. There was something to be said for shock value as she climbed onto the bed and straddled his waist, grey eyes locking to startled gold.  

A gasp escaped him before he felt instinct take over, the promise of nourishment giving him one last surge of energy; enough to sit up and clasp his arms around the pray that had wandered so willingly into his clutches. She jumped in surprise, straining against his grasp, but he held firm. She twisted, a sharp hiss of pain falling past her lips in response to his brutal hold. The whisper of his human name, Todd, cut through the haze of lust and all-consuming hunger; reminding him who it was he held at his mercy. _Katherine,_ his mind played, _Katherine, Katherine._ It became a mantra, pulling him back from the edge with a single thread of control that allowed him to loosen his hold and command her not to move as he brought his feeding had to rest against her sternum.  

Trembling, and too terrified to refuse, Kate nodded; clutching at his shoulders, drawing a hiss of pain as her nails dug into his skin.

The wraith could sense her fear, taste it almost and if he were not so starved, would have been disgusted by his own savage joy at cultivating it. As it was however, he was too far gone. Clutching tight, he sought permission with a labored breath, “Katherine…”

She gave a single nod. “Feed.”

He pressed down, a howl of pleasure ringing itself from his throat as the first waves of Katherine’s essence coursed through him; healing his injuries and filling him with a vitality not found in any his past victims. He drank greedily, hunger and delirium making him less cautious than he had been before, back in the human’s prison cell. Ten seconds passed, then twenty before he felt her push at him, wanting release.

 _Not yet_ , his conscious protested, not yet willing to let her go. She was so defiant, so strong. Like feeding from a queen or another wraith, he didn’t want to stop. He wanted more.

A whimper of pain pulled him from his fever, cutting through his ecstasy. His focus returned bringing with it a sudden regret and the need to comfort. Removing his hand, he relaxed his arms and opened his mouth, prepared to offer Katherine an apology, only to have her rebuff his attempt, push him away and then scramble off of him as quickly as possible.

He followed, facing her as his feet hit the ground, his feeding hand outstretched; fingers curled suppliantly. “Katherine –”

Her expression silenced him. “Don’t,” she whispered, grey eyes begging a distance she knew he didn’t want to give as she struggled to regain her equilibrium. _Well, too bad,_ she thought viciously, _My bones feel like they’re on fire. The least he can do is…_

“Katherine…” he tried again, taking a tentative step, his fingers flexing, “…please.”

“Don’t!” she cried, more forcefully this time, backing away like a wounded animal.

Alarmed, Todd looked as if he wanted to follow but stopped when he realized doing so would likely only make her retreat faster. Distressed, he allowed his concern to show on his face hoping that in so doing the frightened female could be enticed to return. She wasn’t and instead continued to retreat until she was on the far side of the room.

“Forgive me,” his voice rumbled, double tones pitched low in a breathy whisper. He’d assumed, mistakenly, that because her physical appearance remained largely unaltered his feeding had had little effect. Clearly this was not the case as evidenced by her fear and growing need to get away from him. “Katherine –”

“I…I can’t breathe. Why can’t I breathe? Why –” the woman was stammering, struggling for breath against her suddenly blurred vision and trembling body. Her lack of control was humiliating, a weakness she’d not felt since before she’d joined the project and having Todd there to witness it was absolutely intolerable. She’d jumped through countless hoops trying to get him to treat her like an equal, something more than just another human, and now all her hard work was coming undone.   

She had to get out of there.

“I need to leave, need to…” Her retreat continued until she reached the door where, waving it open, she paused just long enough to tell him to get dressed and to meet her in the gateroom before disappearing down the hall as fast as she could go without breaking into a run.

Behind her, still frozen, Todd stared after her; his hand slowly lowering back to his side as the echo of her footsteps began to fade. When they had disappeared completely the wraith clenched his fist, squeezing until he bled. He hissed in pain, hot bile rising to the back of his throat at the memory of her eyes, the expression on her face; like she was finally seeing the monster so many of her kind believed him to be. The thought anguished him making him realize that her opinion, what she thought of him, meant something and that monstrous was not how he wanted to be perceived.

It was with a heavy heart Todd finally looked away, dropping his eyes as he turned back to his bed; hands reaching for his pile of clothing as he carefully began to dress… 

~xXx~

John knew something was wrong the minute his sister came stomping into the gateroom, jaw set and refusing to look at anyone. He also knew that whatever was bothering her likely had something to do with Todd, the wraith she’d volunteered to go feed. Something obviously hadn’t gone according to plan which, given the person involved, really wasn’t all that surprising. Without fail, whenever they worked with Todd, something always, inevitably went sideways.

If he’d hurt her, John was going to kill him.

“I take it things didn’t go so well?” asked Lorne, sidling up to him as both men stood by the gate waiting for Woolsey to give them the all-clear. They watched her covertly for several minutes until Todd arrived, the both of them frowning in surprise when Kate immediately turned her back as soon as she saw him.

 “Doesn’t look too happy with him does she?”

“There’s a first time for everything,” John agreed, eyes narrowing as his sister continued to ignore the wraith now hovering behind her trying, and failing, not to fidget while waiting for her to look at him.

She didn’t and from across the room both her brother and Lorne had to work not to snicker. Seriously, if the situation weren’t so serious it’d be funny. Todd was twitching.

“Katherine?”

She turned her head but still wouldn’t look at him. “What?”

Wounded, the wraith frowned, bowing his head as he shuffled closer to Kate’s back.  “Will you not look at me?” he asked, speaking so softly John had to strain in order to hear him. “I have no desire to speak to your back.”

Kate snorted. “I don’t really give a damn _what_ you desire,” she snapped, keeping her eyes lowered as she turned around, like she was denying him on purpose. “But I know we need to talk and we will just…not right now. I need some time to come to terms with it, get it straight in my head before we start hashing things out. You owe me that at least so later, okay? We’ll talk later, I promise.”

Although clearly not the outcome he’d been gunning for, Todd knew better then to push, choosing to turn away rather than argue. Meanwhile, from the control room, Woolsey gave them the all-clear and instructed Chuck to dial the gate.  The planet they were going to had been selected at random from a possible list of five, none of which they’d ever set foot on, with confirmed settlements near the gate. The last thing they needed was for somebody to see them in the company of a wraith and go running back to one of their allies. So it was they found themselves on a forested world walking north towards what Teyla had assured them was a densely populated village of some size. In other words; a place where Todd could eat his fill and nobody would notice the missing until after they were gone.

“So, how’re we doing this?” Lorne asked as they tramped along, putting distance between them and the gate. “Are we just here for moral support or are you actually gonna need us to help you?”

Displeased by the notion of requiring any further assistance, Todd hissed. “The only thing I require from you, major, is the assurance that my quarry will not escape.”

“So, we’re blocking the exits then?” John made a face, “How wonderful.”

His sarcasm was unappreciated. “I am already aware of the disdain you have for this activity,” Todd growled, “You need not further remind me.”

Sheppard looked at him, silently trying to figure out why the wraith was so agitated as they walked along. Presumably it had something to do with Kate and whatever had happened that she didn’t wanna talk about. Deciding he needed to know, John cleared his throat and casually asked, “So, how’d the feeding go?”

Two things happened at once: Kate’s back stiffened, and Todd snarled, “It is not up for discussion.”

Though obviously a touchy subject the colonel had never been very good at taking hints, “Yeah but -”

“What part of ‘ _not up for discussion’_ did you not understand?” the wraith demanded, turning in order to glare down at him, teeth bared.  

Sheppard glared back. “The part – ”

“Hey Colonel?” Lorne caught his attention, eyes on Kate as he addressed his superior. “I don’t think now’s really a good time to talk about –”

“An hour ago he was snaking on my sister. I think I’ve a right to know –”

“You are oblivious,” Todd accused. “Can you not see this topic of conversation is making Katherine uncomfort –”

“Oh, don’t even!!” John protested, pointing an accusatory finger in the wraith’s face, “You don’t get to pretend you care, not after you fucking _ate_ her!”

Todd bristled at the charge, upset for reasons even he couldn’t fully explain. He was not one to habitually go about proclaiming affection but when he _did_ care for someone – which was a rarity he would admit – he found no shame in acknowledging it. And when questioned by Sheppard, it suddenly became very important for him to make it clear the regard he felt for Katherine was not pretense.

“Of course I care!” he hissed, growling low from deep inside his chest. It was immensely pleasing to watch the human startle, shrinking back in sudden fear, hazel eyes widening. _Good,_ he thought viciously, wanting Sheppard to be afraid. Perhaps then he wouldn’t think to question him on the strength of his conviction. “She, unlike you, has earned my respect rather than demand I give it. And as an equal, she has nothing but my highest regard. I do not like you insinuating –”

“– If you care about her so much you wouldn’t have eaten her!!!” Sheppard yelled, in a stare of bewildered shock upon hearing Todd the fucking wraith declare his sister an equal. When the hell had that happened? “If you cared you would’ve found another way!”

“There was no other way!” Todd roared, angry beyond his ability to comprehend why. He should not be this upset and yet the rage simmered, uncontrollable just beneath the surface. “She offered herself to me. I would be dead if she had not.”

“So, what?” Sheppard demanded, “You saying your life is more important than hers!?!”

“It is,” Todd replied without thinking, realizing the truth of it only a fraction of a second later. He sighed, suddenly tired, for while it may be true knowing it didn’t help him. “It is, Sheppard. I am Commander, my duty is to those I govern and as such my life is as much theirs as it is mine; perhaps more so. Had I died they would not have been far behind so yes, my life is exponentially more valuable than hers. That does not mean I relished in taking it.”

John found that hard to believe. “So I’m supposed to think you’re sorry, is that it? You don’t _look_ sorry.”

Todd growled, his hands clenching to fists at his sides, reopening the wounds he’d inflicted earlier. “Believe what you like, nothing I say will –”

“You’re right, it won’t,” John agreed, glaring. “In fact, as far as I’m concerned you’re –”

“If you two are _quite_ done?”

Deflating instantly John looked up and found his sister watching them from a nearby ridge. She looked bored, her expression carefully blank which was almost never a good sign. Maybe Todd and Lorne had been right, now really wasn’t the time to talk about this. Maybe they should…

“Well?” she prompted.

John swallowed hard. “Ah…yeah,” he stammered, “All done.”

She arched an eyebrow. “You sure?”

He nodded. “Yeah, totally sure.” He looked at Todd, the look on his face begging the wraith to agree, “Right Todd?”

The alien inclined his head as capable as Sheppard of seeing past Katherine’s cold indifference to the fury she kept locked away. A fury he had no desire to see unleased. “Correct.”

“Good,” she replied coolly, gesturing for them to join her on the embankment. “I think I found something.”

“What’d you find?” her brother asked, scrambling up next to her then peering out through the trees in the direction she indicated. He frowned, “Is that what I think it is?”

“A cruiser,” Todd observed, careful to keep his distance as he joined them along the bank. He did not wish to provoke Katherine’s ire by standing too near. The distance displeased him but for now, there was nothing he could do.

“Those things have storage pods right?” Kate asked, directing her question at Todd even though she still wouldn’t look at him.

“They do,” the wraith nodded, trying his best not demand she turn and face him. “Several dozen in most cases.”

Kate turned to her brother. “I know you’re not real keen on the idea of him just nabbing someone. How about someone who’s already on the menu?”

He considered it. “I can live with that.”

Lorne frowned. “So we’re boarding that thing?” He frowned at it, “How do we know it’s not crawling with wraith?”

“It is not,” said Todd. “I would have sensed them if that were the case and, as it stands; I sense no wraith at all.”

“Well then that solves that problem,” John said happily, heading forwards. “Let’s go so we can get this over with.”

The others followed falling into step behind him in a single file line. It took them twenty minutes to reach the ship and then another ten before they were able to find an entrance and board. Once inside the party cautiously began to look around before a sweep with the life-signs detector proved they were the only ones on board. 

Sheppard turned to Todd. “Which way?” he asked the wraith.

Todd nodded down a hallway leading off to the left.

John started forwards. “Alright, everyone keep your eyes open. Let’s -”

“I actually thought Lorne and I could go look around,” said Kate.

The colonel stopped and looked hard at his sister. “Any particular reason?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I’ve no desire to watch Todd feed and I think it might be a good idea to see if we can get anything while we’re here.”

Lorne understood her reasoning. “I think that’s a good idea Sir,” he informed Sheppard, “You go with Todd, I’ll go with Kate. We’ll radio if we find anything useful.”

Fully supportive, John nodded his consent before starting down the hallway and gesturing at Todd to follow him. “Let’s go you,” he said, “The sooner you eat the sooner we can go.”

Wordlessly Todd did as he was told.

Lorne, meanwhile, had to jog in order to catch up with Kate who had taken off down the opposite corridor as soon as the colonel had given the okay. “Hey, wait up!” he called, shuffling up next to her before grabbing her elbow in order to slow her down. “They’re gone, it’s just us. You can stop trying to run away.”

“I’m not running away,” Kate argued, pulling herself out of his grasp, continuing to walk. “I’m just – ”

“– Trying to put as much distance between you and Todd as possible?” he looked at her, “I get it, trust me I – ”

“No!” she snapped, turning to him with a fierce, almost wild look in her eyes. Like a frightened animal, “You don’t get it! I’m not even sure _I_ do. Can we just …can we just _go_?”

Nodding, Major Lorne motioned for her to lead the way. They walked for ten minutes with neither of them saying anything. They didn’t speak until they reached the holding cells and then only because they heard a noise.

“What was that?” Lorne asked.

Kate shook her head. “I don’t know,” she relied, stopping at a junction in the corridor. The sound, whatever it was, was coming from the ship’s prison hold. That did not bode well for them.

“Think we should go check it out?”

Before Lorne could answer they heard the noise again. It was a kind of shuffling followed by a grunt and then a kind of moan. It was a good bet to say whatever was making it was probably alive. “We probably should,” he agreed.

Cautiously the two majors entered the hold, guns drawn, where they found a curved row of about twelve cells, a quarter of what could be found on any given hive. The first cell was unoccupied but there was a large stain on the dark, polished floor that looked suspiciously like blood. The second cell was the same and the third had someone in it. Lorne’s eyes narrowed as they took in the figure laid out gruesomely on the ground atop a pool of congealed blood.

“Well this looks eerily familiar.”

“M47,” Kate agreed, lowering her weapon as she took in grisly sight. “Michael.”

“What can’t we ever just catch a break?” wondered Lorne, swallowing a gag. The sight and smell was getting to him. It smelled like death in here.

“Because the universe hates us,” Kate replied, equally sickened but better at hiding it then her fellow major. She sighed, “Well, I suppose we should call -”

The shuffling, moaning, grunting noise killed the words in her throat before she had time to finish saying them. It was closer now, louder, and much more distinctive. Skipping the rest of the cells Lorne and Kate traveled down to the very last one whereupon they found a young woman curled up on her side, obviously weak, and very heavily pregnant.

“Damn,” Lorne muttered, eyes widening at the sight. “Is she – ”

“She’s alive,” Kate said hurriedly opening the cell door before moving to her side and then stooping down to check her pulse.

“Why didn’t she show up on our scans?”

Kate shook her head. “Her pulse is barely there.” The girl shifted again, moaning incoherently. Her stomach moved and with a start Kate realized what was going on.

“What?” Lorne asked, seeing the look of surprise appear on her face. “Kate – ”

“She’s in labor,” the super solider replied, looking up at him through startled eyes. “Help me -”

Lorne was at her side before she could even finish talking. Carefully he helped turn the dying girl onto her back, arranging her arms so they were by her side and out of the way while Kate, with equal care, spread her knees apart and helped her bend her knees. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“If it was another one of those things it would’ve clawed its way out by now,” Kate reasoned, “If we can help her deliver we can at least find out what the hell Michael’s been doing.”

Lorne couldn’t argue that knowing what the hybrid was up to would definitely be a plus. “Okay fine,” he agreed, moving around the girl’s body until he was next to Kate. She had a hand on the mother’s abdomen and seemed to be looking for something. “Tell me what to do.”

“Hold her down,” Kate instructed, “Her pulse is weakening; we’ve got to get the baby out now.”

He looked at her. “What’re you gonna do?”

Instead of a response, Kate shifted her position and then pulled a knife out of her boot.

Kate!” screamed Lorne, alarmed. “What’re – ”

“She’s fading fast, I can’t save her,” Kate explained in a rush, ripping apart the girl’s skirt so she could have unrestricted access to the lower part of her abdomen. “I can save the kid so just make sure she doesn’t move. This is gonna be messy.”

“I sure hope you know what you’re doing,” said Lorne as he threw his weight across the girl’s prone form, hoping that his mass was enough to keep her from unconsciously thrashing.

“I hope so too,” Kate muttered taking a deep breath before making the first cut.

~xXx~

No more eager than Kate to watch Todd feed; John waited outside the pod chamber for the wraith to finish and while he waited, tired radioing Lorne.

All he got was static.

He tried again. “Lorne this is Sheppard, come in. Major Lorne this is Colonel Sheppard please respond.”

Still nothing. He tried Kate. “Kate…Katie Beth…Major Sheppard! One of you please answer me God dammit!”

“Something the matter Sheppard?”

Hearing Todd’s voice come out of nowhere and right behind him, Sheppard leapt about a foot in the air, spinning around to glare hotly at the smirking wraith. “Don’t _do_ that!!”

“My apologies,” Todd lied greatly pleased, despite himself, at the human’s reaction.

Hazel eyes narrowed hatefully in his direction. “Bullshit,” Sheppard challenged, totally not buying him being any more sorry for scaring the shit out of him then he was for snaking on Kate. He certainly didn’t _look_ sorry, the bastard was laughing too fucking hard. John growled, “I take it you’re done?”

A nod.

“How many’d it take?”

Todd’s mirth was suddenly replaced by annoyance. “Why do you ask?”

Sheppard shrugged. “Color me curious.”

The wraith studied him, attempting to discover his motive for this strange question. “If I answer honestly what are the chances you will hold whatever number I give you against me?”

John raised his right hand. “I swear I won’t,” he promised, “Scouts honor.”

Todd didn’t believe him. “You’re lying,” he said with certainty.

Sheppard glared at him. “What’ve I told you about reading our minds?”

The alien was completely dispassionate. “It is not your mind I read but rather your expression. I ask again, for what reason do you with to know?”

John opened his mouth.

“Col…Sheppard…ease…pond!”

Immediately his conversation with Todd took a back burner as he reached for his radio, “This is Sheppard, repeat.” More static, he tried again, “Major this is Sheppard please repeat your message.”

Still nothing. The colonel let out a frustrated growl.

“Curious,” Todd observed, head cocking to the side in thought. “Something is interfering with the signal.”

“No shit Sherlock!” John snapped, slapping at his radio for a third time. “Lorne, come in, repeat.”

Silence.

He snarled, spinning on his heel to go back the way they came. “Come on let’s go. I hope it’s easier to find them than it is to hear them.”

Without protest, the wraith followed, obliged to follow Sheppard’s lead without question only because the inability to contact Major Lorne did not bode well for Katherine. Bothered, and uncertain as to the state of her overall health, he quickened his stride.

“Holy crap, slow down!” Sheppard squawked from behind him, scrambling in order to keep up, “What the fuck’s gotten into you!?”

Todd ignored him but slowed down at least enough for the human to keep pace with him. They arrived at the junction where they had last seen the others and took the opposite path from the one they had traveled previously. Within minutes they’d reached the ship’s prison hold where the stench of death lingered, clinging to the walls like a fungus. Todd felt his heart thud loudly against his chest, worry bleeding through him at an alarming rate. Together he and Sheppard entered the cell block whereupon they found a blood soaked Major Lorne waiting for them, the sight of which stopped them both in their tracks.

“What the –”

“It’s not mine,” the major assured, waylaying their concern as they came to join him. He turned to Todd, “This place ringing any bells?”

“A fair few,” the wraith acknowledged, yellow eyes darting back and forth in search of Katherine. “Where’s – ”

“Last cell,” Lorne pointed, preemptively answering the question.

With a nod of thanks Todd strode past him, arriving seconds ahead of Sheppard – both of them coming to a halt, frozen, at the sight that greeted them.

“Kay – ”

She stood, turning to face them, small bundle cradled in her arms.

John’s eyes widened. “Holy shit!!” he exclaimed, blinking rapidly. “Is that what I think it is!?!”

“If you’re thinking it’s a baby wraith, you’re half right,” Kate whispered, absentmindedly rocking back and forth comfortingly. “His mother’s human and he doesn’t have a feeding slit. I think he’s a – ”

“Hybrid,” Todd supplied, unable to look away, the sight searing itself into his memory. He felt warmth blossom in the pit of his stomach, spreading outwards. The image of her protectively cradling the infant, so very wraith-like in appearance, with no disgust or loathing in her expression, forever branded into his mind. Perhaps in future there would come a time she would look at him like that, perhaps even…

“Well isn’t that wonderful?” Sheppard was saying, his expression belying his words as they pulled Todd from his thoughts. “What exactly are you expecting us to do with it?”

“Whatdoya mean what do I expect us to do with him?” Her eyes narrowed, “We’re taking him with us.”

“The fuck we are!” her brother exclaimed, “We don’t even know what that thing is other than it’s obviously part wraith. And how do you think it got that way? If it’s in any way connected to Michael -”

“ – Then we can study him, try and find out what he’s been up to,” Kate shot back, instinctively shuffling closer to Todd somehow knowing he would protect her if only to get back on her good side. Right now she wasn’t picky. “We’re taking him and that’s final.”

Sputtering, his mouth agape, John stared at his sister as though she’d grown a second head. What the hell was she thinking? Was she thinking was maybe the more appropriate question and why the hell was she suddenly standing so close to Todd when, not five minutes ago, she was still trying to avoid looking him in the eye?  “I blame you,” he told the wraith.

“It would be displeasing if you didn’t,” hissed Todd feeling hopeful, despite the circumstance, that Katherine still had faith he would protect her. “We should leave,” he told her, turning to her and speaking quietly, almost tenderly into her ear. “Normal birth is harrowing enough, it would be best if Doctor Keller were able to perform a thorough examination.”

Kate nodded. “Yeah, might be good.”

He extended his hand, intending to place it at the small of her back. “Then shall we – ”

The movement caught Sheppard’s eye. “Hey whoa, hold it!” he exclaimed, jumping between them. “Two things. One, touch her and die. Two, I don’t remember any of this being your call.”

Todd growled. “If left here the child will die of exposure. Is that what you want? I had not thought you to be so cruel.”

Nostrils flaring at the accusation, the human matched his glare, hazel eyes narrowing to virtual slits. “This isn’t about compassion,” he argued, “It’s about probability. Nothing ever goes the way we want it to when Michael’s involved. In fact he probably manages to screw us over more often than you do. If we take that thing back to Atlantis, it’s not gonna end well.”

Dispassionate though it may seem, Lorne kinda had to agree. “Colonel’s got a point Kate. I mean, have you thought this through? What if – ”

“What if what?” she said challengingly. “Are you really objecting because of Michael or because, other than the lack of feeding slit, we’re talking about a baby wraith?”

“Hey I’m not…that’s not what I’m saying!” Lorne stammered.

“Then what _are_ you saying?” Kate demanded.

“Yes,” Todd rumbled, stepping past Sheppard to stand shoulder to shoulder with Katherine. “What _are_ you attempting to imply?”

Lorne held up his hands, shaking his head at the futility of trying to fight both of them at the same time.

John recognized it too. “Fine,” he said at length, glared back and forth between the two of them alternatingly. His sister’s heart was in the right place and Todd was probably only playing along in order to make her forgive him but still. He sighed, “We can take it with us. Katie Beth you and baby are in the middle, Lorne with her. Todd – back of the line. Let’s get the hell outta Dodge.”

The wraith protested. “I would rather stay with Katherine and the infan -”

“I don’t care how sorry you say you are. Back of the line, now!”

With a growl, Todd did as instructed and, satisfied, John waved at the others to fall into place before starting off towards the gate.

~xXx~

Returning to the city with a baby wraith and Lorne and Kate covered in blood was not an experience John wanted to repeat any time soon. For starters, the commotion was enough to upset the kid which made Kate mad and Todd suddenly overprotective, growling at anyone who made the mistake of getting too close. But when he growled at Woolsey, Atlantis’ director decided enough was enough and had them all report to the infirmary where Jennifer and her nurses insisted on running a barrage of tests to officially confirm whether or not the child was a indeed a hybrid or just another one of Michael’s monsters. Kate stayed with him, her maternal instincts apparently having kicked in full force, while the rest of them went to wait in Jennifer’s office. An hour later, Rodney’s wife was off compiling a report with the results while the rest of her staff fussed and fawned over his sister and her tiny charge.

Personally, John didn’t see the appeal. “It’s not even cute!” he complained loudly, waving his hands at the group of women clucking and cooing on the other side of the glass. “It’s green and it looks like a lizard!”

“A very small lizard with tiny toes and big, bright yellow eyes,” Lorne empathized, “Like a kitten.”

Sheppard scowled at him. “Oh no, don’t you start! It’s bad enough every woman within half a mile has fallen in love with it, you’re not allowed to like it too!”

“And why not?” asked Woolsey. “If he’s going to be staying here -”

“She’s not keeping it!”

“Mr. Woolsey, Colonel.”

They turned, eyeing the doctor who’d appeared in the doorway clutching a data pad. Woolsey gave her a nod of greeting, “I take it you’ve completed your examination Doctor?”

“I have,” she says after clearing her throat. “He’s healthy, a little underweight but nothing to be too concerned about. His temperature’s a bit low too but I think that’s normal – ”

“But is he a hybrid?” asked Woolsey.

She nodded. “I’ve run every test: genetically, he’s a perfect mix of human and wraith. He’s got better hearing and better vision than we do while, on the other hand, his pupils are round and you already know he doesn’t have a feeding slit. His spine’s less pronounced; he’s got nipples and doesn’t appear to have any sensory pits on his face –”

“Nor will he until he has reached adolescence,” Todd interrupted, earning a frown from each of the humans in turn. “Our sensory pits do not develop until after puberty.”

Lorne’s brows knitted together in confusion. “Puberty?” he echoed, “I thought ya’ll didn’t _do_ that.”

The wraith cocked his head. “Do what?” he queried.

The major blinked. “Well, I ah…I mean, based on what we’ve seen you guys don’t –”

“What I think Major Lorne is trying to say is, based on what we’ve seen, the wraith are rather like insects the way you reproduce; immerging fully grown from pods or cocoons.”

“I see,” he said eventually, mentally coming to terms with their perceived ignorance. It wasn’t their fault really, just unfortunate. “You are referring to the secretion and cloning process by which we manufacture our drones?”

They nodded.

He grunted. “Yes, well, while I can understand your confusion, that process is reserved strictly for the making of drones. Purebred wraith such as myself are produced by more traditional methods, not so very different from your own.”

The four of them paled. “You mean…sex?” Lorne squeaked, expression shifting into a mask of horrified shock.

“Surely this does not come as a surprise? Physically we are not so very different.” His eyes hardened, “Or were you under the impression I simply _look_ male?”

Stupidly Lorne nodded recognizing it as a mistake only a second later when Todd released a deeply offended sounding growl. “I can assure you Major, that in that regard my virility is most certainly – ”

Sheppard waved him quiet. “Stop, don’t tell us,” he begged, in no mood for a biology lesson if it was in any way headed the direction he thought it was. He did however have one question and he hoped, really, _really_ hoped, it wasn’t a yes. “So… humans and wraith, can they…”

Todd hesitated, considering how best to put this so his allies didn’t get the wrong idea. Admittedly it was a subject of some delicacy and as such he’d always assumed the humans made no mention of it because the topic disturbed them. Never had it occurred to him that the reason they made no mention of it was because they didn’t know. “It is possible,” he replied slowly.

John looked absolutely horrified. “Have _you_ ever – ”

He shook his head. “I have not. Generally, I do not find humans attractive. Your frailty is off-putting and I’ve no desire to mate with someone I would just as soon feed upon.”

“So, no fucking your food then?” Sheppard asks.

Todd looked positively disgusted at the thought. “Most certainly not.”

“What about my sister?”

His fingers twitched, the question catching him off guard despite the fact he really ought not be surprised. Even Sheppard wasn’t _that_ unobservant. “What of her?” he replied at length.

The human scoffed. “I’m not completely blind – I’ve seen the way you look at her. Explain that why don’t you.”

“I…” he trailed off, dropping his eyes as he tried to think of what to say, how best to explain without accidentally getting shot. “Katherine is…at times I find myself forgetting she is human. She does not act like one. She acts, more often then I care to admit, like a female wraith and as such I’ve come to see her as an equal.”

The Atlantians stared, all four of them, their combined expressions a menagerie of unparalleled shock and an almost tangible disbelief; as if they couldn’t believe what they were hearing. “So, Kate’s an exception then?” asked Sheppard slowly.

A full minute went by before the wraith responded. “She is, yes,” he replied dutifully, feeling the need to add more to his statement by saying, “I have been around humans the entirety of my life; none of them have ever intrigued me, not in the slightest. Katherine is unique in that regard, a queen among humans.”

And while Jennifer gasped, Lorne frowned and Woolsey looked suddenly thoughtful; John was having a hard time accepting any of it. On the one hand, Todd thinking Kate was hot really wasn’t that big a deal. On the other, however; Todd being intrigued _while_ thinking Kate was hot was a recipe for disaster.

“But you’re not going to do anything about it, right?”

“Not presently,” the wraith replied, hoping Sheppard would not think to press him further.

He didn’t. “Good,” he said with conviction, apparently under the impression his word on the matter was final. “Let’s keep it that way.”

Todd said nothing, choosing to neither confirm nor deny the supposition the matter was settled. Sheppard may believe he had the right to make such a decision but in reality, the choice belonged entirely to Katherine. Male wraith did not pursue females in the same manner as did male humans unless first being invited to do so. It was Katherine’s job to indicate whether or not there was any shared interest and in the event there was, Todd already knew he would not refuse her. If she wanted him he would gladly let himself be had.

But that was neither here nor there and, while he’d been thinking, Mr. Woolsey had begun talking – asking what was going to happen with the child.

“Well,” Jennifer answered, hugging the data-pad to her chest, “If Kate has her way, we’d better go get the baby stuff out of storage.”

“She’s not keeping it!” the colonel argued. “I mean yeah, she can for a little while but eventually we’ll have to find it a home. She’s here to deal with the wraith not raise one.”

Woolsey frowned. “Why are you so against this? Do you think she won’t be able to do her job and be a mother?” His eyes narrowed, “Or do you think she’s not fit?”

His eyes widened. “What? No! It’s not that!” he exclaimed. “Kate loves kids, she’s great with kids. That’s not the issue.”

“Then what is?”

Sheppard sighed; he really wasn’t doing a very good job of explaining this. “I…it’s just…I don’t want her to have to do it alone.”

“Who says she’ll be alone?” Lorne asks, folding his arms almost in challenge. “You think her team won’t support her, that _I_ won’t support her? You supported Teyla with Torren.”

“Yes but that’s different,” John argued. “Torren’s got two parents and even now, he’s with Kannan more than he’s with Teyla. Kate wouldn’t have that kind of support.”

“Wouldn’t she though?” Jennifer queries, “She may not have a partner but she’s got plenty of friends. I could watch him if she’s on a mission and I know Alicia would help too. And you, if Kate really wants to keep him are you saying you wouldn’t help her?”

“Of course I would!” Sheppard shouted. “But I…it’s still not the same. Torren’s human, this kid’s not. What if some kind of wraith developmental problem thing comes up, what’re we supposed to do then?” He turned to Todd, “I don’t suppose _you_ know anything about raising hybrid children?”

“Hybrid children no,” the wraith replied, “But I am over ten thousand years old, it can be trusted I have reproduced more than once.”

Sheppard blinked. Okay so, that question backfired. “I…really?”

He nodded.

“Huh.”

And with that, Woolsey decided it was time to wrap things up. “Well that settles it,” he said, calling on their attentions as he put his final say on the matter. They’d certainly discussed it enough. “If Major Sheppard chooses to adopt the baby, I’ll make sure all necessary arrangements are made. In the meantime, if that’s all, I’ve a meeting with Dr. Banner to get to. If you all will excuse me…”

He left and, after a while, the rest of them did as well. Todd went to go call his hive, Lorne went with him, Jennifer returned to the floor and Kate while the colonel slapped his radio and went in search of his teammates. Ronon and Teyla had some explaining to do…

~xXx~

“Hey, you’re back!”

“Got back an hour ago,” John replied, sliding into an empty seat next to Rodney at the team’s usual table. He’d tracked his teammates down to the mess hall where they were busy quizzing the Canadian for details on his honeymoon. “Just got done in the infirmary.”

“Is something wrong?” Teyla asked, briefly looking him over. “You do not appear to be injured.”

“I’m not,” he said, “I’m fine. It’s just…we sorta brought back a baby.”

“A _baby_?” McKay echoed, mouth full of food hanging half open. “What happened to feeding Todd!?!”

“We did that too,” John explained. “On the way to the village we found a cruiser and decided to see if there was anybody already in storage. While Todd fed, Lorne and Kate decide to go look around. They found more girls like they did on M47, all dead except for one who was in labor. So anyway, Kate did a C-section, the girl died and now my sister wants to adopt the thing which, get this, is apparently a natural hybrid which reminds me…” his head swiveled, eyes landing on the two Pegasus natives with a glare of accusation, “Did you _know_ humans are compatible with wraith?”

Rodney spit out his food. “Say what!?!” he yelped.

The colonel didn’t repeat himself. Instead, he laced his fingers together and folded his hands in front of him waiting patiently for a response.

Teyla spoke first. “It is not something one normally talks about in civilized circles.”

“Why not?” John prompted, “I mean besides the obvious.”

His teammate sighed. “The wraith have numerous practices involving human women that are...somewhat disturbing. I learned of several while I was pretending to be Todd’s queen and, since I know how he feels about them, I saw no reason to prejudice you against him for things he doesn’t even condone.”

Surprised, Ronon squinted at her. “You talked to Todd about it?”

Her expression became a grimace. “There was an incident just shortly after I became queen of the primary’s hive. One of the officers took one of the women we culled against her will and Todd had him punished. Afterwards, he made it clear the crew was only to engage in consensual relations with the female worshippers and that any further infractions would be treated with the same severity.”

“Which was what?” Ronon wondered, curious.

“Death.”

Rodney groaned. “Well, I suppose that’s comforting,” he mumbled, staring down at his plate. “Todd doesn’t condone rape, let’s throw a party.”

John, meanwhile, seemed suddenly lost in thought.

“Are you alright?” Teyla asked.

He looked up. “What? Oh yeah, I’m fine.” Then, “Todd thinks my sister’s hot.”

The entire table blinked at him. “Say what now?” Rodney warbled.

“You sure?” asks Ronon.

He nods. “I was curious; you’ve seen the way he looks at her – how he looked at her when they were in the cell. So I asked and Todd told me. He thinks humans are off-putting but apparently Kate’s the exception. I made him promise not to do anything.”

Teyla’s eyebrows rose. “And he agreed?”

John frowned. “Yeah, why wouldn’t – ”

“I never actually promised.”

“Gah!” the colonel jumped, barely managing not to fall out of his chair as he whipped around to find Todd hovering over him. His eyes narrowed upwards, “What do you mean you didn’t actually promise? You said –”

“No, you said and I did not correct you. Now, I believe I have a debt to repay so tell me, do you know where she is?”

He shook his head. “Nope, not a clue.”

“I do not believe you.”

“Well then too bad, that’s your own problem.”

Agitated, Todd flexed his hands in anger; curling his fingers towards his palms until they made a fist. “I would have thought you more eager to have me return her life. Or is that no longer one of your priorities?”

“Of course it is!” John snapped. “But in case you don’t remember Kate’s not exactly happy with you right now so it’d probably be in your best interest to back off and let her come to you.”

Frustrated, Todd resisted the urge he had to strangle him instead forcing himself to remain calm. Teyla, sensing how close he was to losing his temper, opened her mouth to say something soothing only to close it again when she saw Kate enter the hall. Clearing her throat, she watched as Todd’s eyes flashed first to her and then behind him following the nod she gave him. He visibly relaxed the moment he saw her, tensing again almost immediately when their eyes locked; Katherine hesitating before continuing to approach the table.

“Hey guys,” she greets them, smiling at everyone, even him, although it was obviously strained.

“Where’s the kid?” John asks, noting the baby’s absence from her arms.

“Asleep,” she informs them, “Jennifer wants to keep him overnight for observation. She says that’s normal.”

“It is perfectly normal,” Teyla assured her, attempting to ease the worry evident in the younger woman’s tone. “When Torren was born, Jennifer kept him for two days before I was allowed to return with him to my quarters.”

Looking more relieved, Kate nodded to her in thanks before catching movement out of the corner of her eye. Todd’d turned to her, his expression impatient; apparently he was done waiting. “May we talk?”

“I was wondering when you’d ask.”

“You said we would speak once we returned to the city.”

“I was busy.”

“And now you are not.” He moved closer, his expression pleading, a fact not lost on either Ronon or Teyla. “Katherine, please. Will you not grant me an audience?”

Accepting she could no longer put this off, Kate sighed. “Fine,” she tells him, completely oblivious to the way her brother’s teammates are watching them, the looks on their faces betraying how very surprised they are by the wraith’s behavior. Particularly the part where he’d said please. “But not here.”

“Where then?” he asked willing to go anywhere, do anything, if only they could settle this.

John was curious too. “What’re you thinking Katie Beth? Wanna barrow my office?”

She shook her head. “Not necessary but thank you. We’ll go to my room.”

Relieved to know she was still willing to be alone with him, Todd gave his acquiescence in the form of a nod. Her brother, meanwhile, was hesitant. “Are you _sure_ that’s a good idea?” he asks cautiously. “I mean, what if –”

“Oh, what’s he gonna do, eat me!?!” she demands, voice low, silver eyes flashing dangerously. “Been there, done that.” She turned on her heel, calling back as she marches towards the exit, “Come on let’s go.”

Todd follows, dipping his head as he moved to catch up with her, falling easily into place a step behind her. The journey is silent, neither of them speaking until after they are locked inside her quarters, facing each other on near opposite sides of the room. It is obvious she is still tense, still fearful, standing there with her arms crossed defensively, and yet she’s brought him someplace where no one else can hear them. Hopefully this means their relationship can still be repaired. Or not, he thinks sadly when, a moment later, she tells him to hurry up and talk so that he can leave. Todd’s surprised when he realizes how much those words hurt.

“Is my company so objectionable then that you cannot wait for me to be gone? Not so very long ago I was under the impression you rather liked spending time with me.”

Kate scowled. “Yeah well, that was before.”

“Before I fed?” he guessed.

“Before I _felt_ you feed,” she corrected.

Todd stared at her, caught off guard, his mind working furiously to try and understand what she was talking about. It took a while but, eventually, with sudden clarity he felt his eyes widen as the pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place. “I…it’s not possible – ” he began and obviously that wasn’t the right thing to say.

“Not possible!?” Katherine raged. “I’ll tell you what’s not possible! This whole time I’ve been saying your need to feed’s a completely biological thing, no more pleasurable then how we eat but it’s not is it? You lied to me, you lied! Maybe not on purpose but you never corrected me. You fucking – ”

He reached for her, clawed hands seeking her shoulders, suddenly needing to touch her. “Katherine -”

“No!” she screamed, twisting herself out of his reach, retreating still further across the room. With one look she dared him to come closer.

He didn’t. As much as it pained him, Todd forced himself to stay where he was. “Katherine …”

“You liked it,” she accused, angry at how easily she’d allowed herself to be misled; how willingly she’d let herself be fooled into thinking he was just misunderstood rather than the monster she’d been warned about. How could she have been so stupid, how? After all the horrors she’d seen was she really still that naïve?

“You got off on it.”

Drawing a pained breath, he felt it burn the back of his throat; understanding the meaning of her words if not the words themselves. “Katherine, please – ”

She ignored him. “Of course I was expecting it to feel good, like taking a first bite of something after not having eaten in days but I wasn’t expecting…I mean, if that’s what it feels like every time one of you feeds I can only imagine – ”

“It’s not!” Todd cried, eager to at least assuage that fear. If that was her interpretation then he could understand why she appeared so disgusted. He was disgusted too.

His outburst startling her, Kate paused. “What do you -”

He took a step closer, hoping she would not order him to retreat as he hastened to explain; needing, almost obsessively, to be closer to her. “I cannot speak for all wraith but I…feeding does not usually afford me that type of pleasure. There is enjoyment yes, a kind of satisfaction at being renewed, but I do not…get off on it as you seem to believe –”

“But I felt it!” she wailed, “I felt your reaction. It was borderline erotic!”

“It was,” he agreed seeing little point in trying to deny it even if he wished to, “And I have no way of explaining it save for the fact it was you.”

“Me!?!” said Kate disbelievingly, “Are you saying _I’m_ the only one who’s ever done that to you!?! But, that doesn’t make any sense. How could _I_ – ”

“I can only guess it has something to do with your physical enhancements, your augmented strength and vitality. Perhaps in future we can conduct an experiment, I could feed on another one of your augmented humans and see if the result is the same.”

Kate snorted. “Yeah, ‘cause that’d go over well.”

Todd shrugged, seizing the opportunity now she was calmer to take several steps forward. When she didn’t stop him, he continued until he was by her side.

Kate yelped when she realized how close he’d gotten but didn’t move away. Instead, she asked, “What’s causing it? Will it go away?”

“In time,” he replied, feeling his fingers twitch at his side, longing to touch her. “And it is caused by the gift. Whenever the gift of life is exchanged a mental connection is forged between the giver and the recipient. It is meant to establish a means of communication so that one can monitor the other in case any further exchange is needed. Wraith are of course able access the connection at will while human recipients remain largely unaware it even exists.”

He cocked his head, peering down at her from his advantageous height. “I am curious as to how you seem able to – you are not in procession of any hidden talents are you?”

“What, you mean like Teyla?” She shook her head, crossing her arms as she pulled slightly away from him. He really was too damn close. “It’s the serum, the NC26 serum. It didn’t just enhance my body; my brain got an upgrade too. I can’t project my thoughts or read the thoughts of others, obviously, but I can usually tell when somebody else is in my mind and shouldn’t be. I did it to you remember, the day we first met; when you stole my name from me.”

He hissed. “I remember. Going forwards, I had to touch you if I wanted to skim your thoughts without you noticing.”

She shot him a look. “Did that a lot did you?”

“That first day yes, afterwards; I had no need. You have always been mostly honest with me.”

“Mostly?”

He grinned. “I am sure there are some things you hold back. Complete honesty is a privilege I’ve not yet earned.”

She blinked. “Alright then,” and then a thought occurred to her. She asked, “Can you feel me?”

He nodded. “I can or, I believe I can. During my argument with Sheppard, before discovering the cruiser, I felt more anger for the situation then I thought I should. I dismissed it then but now I believe it was your anger fueling mine; you must have been truly enraged if you were able to break through my mental shields.”

She winced. Yeah, she had been pretty pissed, furious even and mostly because her brother couldn’t take a hint. “I’m sorry,” she said apologetically, “I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“I did not think you did,” he replied softly. “As you are human, you have no natural ability to control what thoughts leave your mind any more than you can control those that enter it and for this, I am sorry.”

Nodding, Kate bit her lip and looked up at him, once more surprised at how close he was. “W-what…umm,” she broke off, unable to concentrate with the way he was looking at her. Penetrating yellow eyes locked onto hers as he leaned towards her; if she didn’t know any better she’d think he was about to kiss her.

She swallowed, hard. “Y-you said it’d go away right? With time?” He nodded. “So, what happens when you give me my life back?”

Todd sighed. “Our connection will grow in strength, perhaps past the point where either of us would be able to block the other.” He studied her, attempting to gauge her reaction before he continued. “We can wait if you wish. I will not force you – ”

Kate shook her head. “No, it has to be now. Nobody would understand us waiting and, I don’t know about you, but I’m not really loving the idea of explaining this to anyone.”

This surprised him. He would have thought she’d at least tell her brother. “Will you not tell Sheppard?”

She gave him a look. “You’re kidding right? If I told John I can feel what you’re feeling he’d want me to use it against you and quite frankly, I’ve already done enough of that and you don’t deserve it so, thanks but no.”

Yes, he could see Sheppard taking advantage of their connection if he were to learn of it. What surprised him was that even with her feelings on the matter, Katherine still thought to try and shield him. “I thank you,” he said sincerely, “Were it anyone else -”

“Anyone else wouldn’t be in this situation and the only reason _I_ am is because the NC26 project really did fuck up my life! Yay me,” She looked at him, taking another deep breath in order to prepare herself, “Let’s just get this over with.”

With a nod of acceptance, Todd came closer; he didn’t stop until there was but a hair’s breadth between them. Chest to chest, he lopped his left arm around her back to draw her in then, carefully, he placed his feeding hand over her heart. He felt her start, jerking a little at his touch – no doubt an involuntary response. Katherine swallowed and clutched the backs of his elbows, clinging tightly, anchoring herself as he pressed down.

She gasped. Euphoria rushed through her chest emanating from their point of contact and Kate gasped. It wasn’t a feeling she thought she’d ever get used to an, after this, hopefully she’d never have to feel it again. It lasted longer this time, long enough for her to get more than just a buzz. As the feeling started to taper off, she realized that in duration she’d just more or less gotten the same high from Todd that he claimed to have gotten from her.

That still didn’t make her feel better. In fact, it made her feel worse.

“Katherine?”

She looked up. “I…I don’t…”

Todd’s grip only tightened. “Are you alright? I did not…harm you did I?”

She shook her head and attempted to take a step back. She stumbled and he caught her, holding onto her tightly until she had time to right herself. It was then that the feelings started. Concern, regret, sadness, fear – it all came rushing at her like a tidal wave, hitting her so hard it nearly knocked her backwards. Holy shit! The old adage about still waters running deep seemed to have been designed with Todd in mind because, while his face showed little sign of what he was feeling, Kate now had irrefutable proof he wasn’t just a cold, heartless bastard. God, he felt so much!

Once she was sure her legs would support her, she staggered away from him feeling the pang of sadness at her withdrawal echo through both of them like a resonating sound wave. Todd’s emotions were so intense Kate could barely feel her own and his proximity was only making it worse. She needed to get away from him, she needed…

“Get out.”

Startled, Todd drew in a sharp hiss; reaching out for her. “Katherine -”

She backed away, shaking her head vigorously from side to side as she retreated further and further away. “I need you to leave, you have to leave,” she was saying, the words tumbling from her mouth in a jumbled mess, barely making sense even to her. “I can’t think with you here; all I feel is you. It’s worse when you’re close. Please go, just go!”

With regret, Todd looked back at her, his eyes tracing her face as she fought to bring some order to the wash of emotions that were not hers. He wanted to stay, it was ingrained in him to try and help her but she had asked him to go so he would. He had never meant for any of this to happen.

“Forgive me,” he said and then he was gone.

The door closed and Kate collapsed, falling to her knees while cradling her head, dry heaves and desperate sobs pouring out of her; tears swelling at the corners of her eyes. She closed them, shutting her lids as she rocked back and forth, hoping it would be over soon; that her equilibrium would return and then everything would be normal again.

There was a knock at the door. “Kate?” she heard her brother call, worried and anxious, his concern palpable. “Katie Beth? Please, you’re scaring me. Can I – ”

“I-I’m f-fine!” she answered weakly, doing everything in her power to calm her breathing and take back some measure of control. “Really. I-I don’t need – ”

There was a swish, her door opened and then John was there, on the floor; wrapping himself around her like he had when she was a kid. “Shh, it’s okay, it’s all gonna be okay,” he soothed, rubbing circles against her back. “You know I love you, right?”

She nodded, shifting positions so her head was at his shoulder, her arms circling his neck.

“What happened?” he whispered, so softly she almost didn’t hear him.

She shook her head. “I don’t – can you just…stay?”

He nodded, tightening his hold. It’d been forever since he’d done this, since she’d let him get this close. He’d hugged her but it hadn’t been like this, like she really needed him. “Yeah, I can do that. Take whatever time you need. I got you, I’ve always got you.”

Kate shuddered and then began to cry.

 ~xXx~

Todd had left only an hour after his confrontation with Katherine, arranging to meet his hive on a nearby planet rather than wait for them to reach the city. Distance was a key element in diminishing any type of mental bond and it was his hope that going to such great lengths would cause it to fade quickly. Three weeks later the connection remained, though significantly weaker, and Todd had no one to blame for it but himself.

It had begun by an accident; one of Katherine’s dreams spilling over into his conscious mind during a particularly tedious meeting. In his defense, he hadn’t really been paying attention; too focused on not falling asleep halfway through the important – although exceedingly dull – intelligence report then in maintaining the integrity of his mental barriers. Still, the moment he knew it was happening, Todd acknowledged he should have done the right thing in stopping it; bolstering his own much stronger defenses in order to compensate for Katherine’s inability to control hers while slumbering.

But he didn’t.

Instead, Todd indulged himself with a moment of weakness – allowing their consciousness’ to remain linked until such time as she woke and the connection was ultimately severed. He thought nothing of it until it happened again a few days later, this time while he was in the bath. He’d been washing his hair, running his fingers through the tangled mess of snarled strands when the first of the images hit him, rolling his stomach as the blood in his veins turned to frigid ice. It was a memory, a nightmare made worse with time and repetitive viewing. Katherine was torturing herself whilst she slumbered, agonizing over something she couldn’t change and had done everything in her power to try and stop. The decision to help her had been instinctual, something he barely considered as he easily slipped his mind into hers; soothing her as best he could.

His efforts were rewarded and, when next Katherine dreamed, Todd made sure he was there – lurking in the back of her unconscious mind, waiting to be called. She never asked for him, not by name, but when fear chocked her and made her break out in sweat, writhing and twisting in her sheets he was there; comforting her although he kept his identity hidden. Within a month Todd had become addicted to the feeling of her mind in his, to the unexpected sameness and understanding. Katherine’s hatred for so many of her own actions mirrored Todd’s own self-loathing to such a degree it was almost frightening.

No one had ever understood what it was like to bare the same of having done what is necessary only to despite yourself afterwards. His fellow wraith didn’t understand, Katherine’s brother, the other Atlantians –  they would all turn from her in an instant if ever they were to learn the true cost of their so-called freedom. Freedom was never free: it was fought for, died for and continuously bought with the blood of both enemy and innocent alike. The fact that Katherine knew this and understood it, made him increasingly reluctant to let their connection fade; instead, stubbornly clinging to it in an effort to prolong its life.

If he was clever, perhaps he could convince her it had vanished while covertly deceiving her mind to thinking his continued presence within it was competently normal. And if he could, then perhaps he might even –

“Commander.”

Todd looked up; eyeing the subordinate who dared interrupt the game he’d been playing with the hive’s second during what limited time nether of them were engaged elsewhere. “Yes?”

The young officer shifted, uneasy with the missive he’d been charged to deliver; particularly if there was any truth to it. “We have received another dispatch from the humans of Atlantis.”

“Ignore it,” Todd instructed, returning his attention to the board.

His opponent, however, the wraith the humans called Kenny, raised a brow ridge. “This is their seventh attempt to contact us in half as many hours. Should we not at least see what they want?”

His commander grunted, scowling at the arrangement of pieces and the proverbial corner he’d backed himself into. At best the game would be a draw, “I gave my word I would keep my distance until the connection between Katherine and I is severed. I’ve no intention of breaking it simply to humor her brother.”

Kenny shrugged, accepting the matter was closed before turning to dismiss the subordinate. “You may return to your duties.”

He shook his head. “I cannot. The message is addressed to the Eldest.”

Before him, Kenny’s eyes went wide whilst the Hive Master, Todd – who’s inattention vanished the moment he heard that name – stood and immediately snatched the data-pad out of his hands. “How long ago was this received?”

The subordinate blinked, too surprised by his commander’s abrupt actions to formulate a response.

His Hive Master was in no mood to be lenient. “How long!?” he asked again, his frustration mounting the longer he went without a reply.

“M-minutes my Lord,” the subordinate replied, “Our communications officer received it only moments before I was given the instruction – ”

“Set a course for Atlantis.”

His eyes, if at all possible, widened further.  Kenny, on the other hand, remained slightly more composed, “I’m confused, did you not just say – ”

The commander rounded on him. “Set a course. There is only one human in Atlantis who knowns of me by that distinction and if she has called for me then I have no choice but to obey. I cannot ignore her.”

Both wraith stared at him. “You are Eldest?” the younger of the two whispered, his slit pupils almost comically round whilst beside him, the hive’s Second looked similarly astonished. “Truly?”

“I am,” he confirmed, dismissing them both with a wave of his hand before activating the connection he’d not really been trying to suppress. Instantly he was bombarded with worry, pain and a deep, almost savage desire to protect intermingled with an undercurrent of fear and sadness.

Something was wrong with the child.

 _Todd_ , he heard her mind whisper, proving to him she could indeed tell when another entered her mind; at least while she was awake. _Todd please, hurry. We’re running out of time. Todd…_

He growled, hands clenching to fists along the black tabletop while his talons carved grooves into its surface. Katherine was in pain and she had _called_ for him.

Suddenly, his hive couldn’t travel fast enough.

~xXx~

It had started a week ago, with a fever. Jennifer had assured her it was normal, that sometimes babies got sick but Kate’d known instinctively something much worse was wrong. Her fears were proven when, after three days, the fever didn’t go away and along with it, other symptoms started showing up. Body aches and chills, incessant crying, diarrhea. Something was horribly wrong and after a week with no signs of improvement, Kate was desperate enough to reach out to the only other person she could think of that might know how to help.

Todd.

The first few tries were ignored and while her brother fumed about how the wraith was losing points for this, Kate knew he wasn’t ignoring them maliciously; he was ignoring them because she’d asked him to. In the weeks since his departure, her ability to feel his emotions had lessened but it was still there. The distance helped which was why Todd was all the way on the other side of the galaxy. He’d kept his word, unsurprising given what she knew. A far cry from the heartless bastard her brother thought he was, Todd’s problem – and hers by extent – was that he felt everything so very strongly. Kate had spent days trying to compartmentalize all the echoes she was getting from him even after he’d left. Eventually she’d had to ask for help and, after swearing Teyla to secrecy, the Athosian woman had helped her meditate herself into a kind of semi-detached state so she could work on processing all of Todd’s feelings.

The next time she saw him, and her son _wasn’t_ deathly ill, she was gonna sit him down and have a long conversation about letting stuff go.

And so, when Atlantis’ sixth attempt to get Todd’s attention turned out to be futile, Kate decided it was time to try a different approach. “Let me try,” she offered, pushing John out of the way in order to type her own message into the terminal. She also carefully, tentatively, pushed her emotions – a trick she’d learned form Teyla – to the front of her mind so that Todd could read them. After reading her message, she had a feeling the first thing he’d do was check on her. “I think I can get him to answer.”

“Fine,” John huffed but it was clear he didn’t believe her. It was a shock for him when, exactly thirty minutes later, Woolsey came to the infirmary to tell them the wraith was on his way.

Her brother was positively baffled. “The hell he answers for you but not for me!” he’d practically shouted, “What the hell did you say to him!?!”

“That’s for me to know and you never to find out,” she said smugly.

John glared but agreed to go meet Todd out on the south pier. From there he brought the wraith directly to the infirmary.

Kate felt him before she saw him. “You came.”

Bowing his head, Todd crossing the room until he was by her side, “I did.”

She turned to him, lifting her face so that their eyes locked for the first time since she’d begged him to get out of her room. At the time, she’d just wanted him to leave so she could regain her footing – after he’d left she realized he mistook her reason for wanting him gone. She regretted it now, all of it, the way she’d handled things. Todd thought she was disgusted by the feelings she got from him and she wasn’t, not by a long shot. She’d been overwhelmed but now was not the time to talk about it. Now, they had more important things to discuss. 

“He’s sick,” she began to explain, searching his face for any sign he understood. His expression told her he did. She continued, “We don’t know what’s wrong. All we know is that he’s dying and nothing we do seems to help. We found Michael, we know where he is. We’re going to see him.”

Todd felt his heart constrict. They must be truly desperate if their only recourse was to beg assistance from their enemy. The Abomination was not known for his compassion; prevailing upon his good nature was a pointless exercise. He would not participate in giving her false hope. “He will not help you.”

Kate’s eyes turned hard. “He will if you ask to.”

Todd cocked his head. “And what makes you think he’ll listen to me? I’m flattered you think me so capable but the truth is –”

“ – The _truth_ is that you’re a hell of a lot more important than you’d have any of us believe!” Katherine exclaimed, silver eyes flashing furiously with a barely controlled rage Todd had not yet been privy to. A motem’s fury, the need to protect her child. “I know you,” she exclaimed, “I know what’s going on inside your head, the stuff you don’t want anyone else to know. You hold power over the wraith, that’s why they called you the Eldest. They fear you, all of them, even the queens. They’re terrified of you and I don’t see Michael being any different given his sense of self-preservation is stronger than most. All you have to do is threaten him and he’ll do whatever you ask so please, please help me. I need – ”

“Woah, wait a minute – back up!”  John called loudly, startling both them into silence; the two of them so absorbed in the other they’d completely forgotten he, Teyla, Ronon, Lorne, Woolsey and Jennifer were all still there. “What do you mean you can know what’s going on inside his head!?! What the hell does that mean!?!”

“Exactly what you expect, Sheppard,” Todd explained, silently cursing the human for interrupting them. Katherine had been about to tell him she needed him he was sure of it and, regardless of why, he had wanted to hear her say it. “The gift of life creates a mental bond between both the giver and the receiver which allows for the exchange of thoughts and emotions. It is restricted by distance.”

The human stared at him. “You mean to tell me my sister can feel whatever you feel and vise-versa!?! The hell!! Since when –”

“Since Ford’s prison,” Kate admitted, also unhappy about the interjection. She glanced at Todd; she could feel the agitation rolling off him in waves.

“Is that why you wanted to help him so bad, why you fought to let us take him off world? You could feel him –”

“– Dying and yes,” she interrupted, eager to get the explanations over with so they could go back to trying to save her son. “Now, if you don’t mind…” she returned to Todd, waiting expectantly for him to continue.

He took a step closer. “You realize that if I do this, I will lose my anonymity. It has served me well since my return from imprisonment – allowing me to move much more freely then I would normally be able to. Revealing myself to the Abomination will most likely put me at a distinct disadvantage.”

The others frowned, taking this to mean he was saying no. But he wasn’t, Kate knew he wasn’t; he was simply informing her of the sacrifice he’d have to make. “I know,” she whispered, impulsively laying a hand on his chest, directly over his heart, “But I’m asking you anyway.”

Collectively, John and the others held their breaths; furtive glances shared between the six of them establishing the mutual consensus Kate was wasting her time. Empathy wasn’t exactly Todd’s strong suit.

Which is why his answer was so very shocking.

Cocking his head, the wraith’s yellow eyes sought hers, his expression softening to something almost tender as he reached up to cover her hand with his. “I will do as you ask because it is you who asks it,” he told her, multi-toned voice pitched so low it was almost a purr. “As you command I will obey.”

Eyes watering, Kate gave a thankful nod, squeezing his hand while her brother, Woolsey and all the rest, even Ronon, gasped in what could only be described as stupefied shock. It took them ten minutes to get over it, filing out of the infirmary one by one as they went to ready themselves for departure. Ronon elected to stay behind, promising Kate he’d keep an eye on the kid while she, Todd, John, Teyla and Lorne went Michael hunting. A scant twenty minutes after stepping through the gate the five of them found themselves standing at the entrance of a dilapidated mine, plotting the best way forwards. Consistently, Michael’s hideouts were creepy and dark and this one was no exception. Given a cursory examination, the tunnel burrowing into the side of a small hill looked damp, cramped and had walls that appeared to be covered in webs similar to those produced by the Iratus bug. Nobody was looking forward to venturing inside but John probably least of all.

Oh, the things he did for his sister. Let it not be said he was any less willing to help her then Todd was.

“Okay guys,” he said, starting forward, the beam of his flashlight little help in penetrating the darkness. “If you see anything move, and it’s got more than two legs, shoot it.”

Lorne glanced at him. “A little extreme there, don’t you think? We don’t wanna tip the bastard off we’re coming.”

“I agree,” Teyla said, “Right now we have the element of surprise. We do not wish to lose it.”

“Perhaps in the interests of stealth we should search separately,” Todd suggested. As loathe as he was to admit it, the Abomination did possess the uncanny ability to always stay one step ahead. It was in their favor to utilize the advantage of numbers and while Katherine had not expressly stated it, Todd knew she desired his presence as much for his ability to strategize as she did his power. It would shame him to disappoint her.

They crept forward in a tight cluster, inching into the mine a step at a time. “I don’t think that’s a particularly good idea,” Sheppard cautioned, “Tactically yeah, it makes sense – but every time we split up someone always dies. I think in this case we better just go it together.”

“If you think is best,” the wraith rumbled, “I defer to your...expertise.”

“Sarcasm?” John glared at him, “You need to work on your delivery.”

“If I were being sarcastic you would know,” Todd hissed, “That was not sarcasm. I have little experience in matters such as this. I do not normally hunt my enemies looking to apprehend them. I am much more a fan of termination.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” wondered Kate aloud as the group came to its first corner, rounded it, and then started off in a slightly different direction. “I’d like to think…”

She froze.

The others stopped walking. “Katherine?” Todd turned back, he could feel her uncertainty, “Is something –”

“I thought I felt the ground move.” Suspiciously she looked down, studying the dirt beneath her feet. “I’m sure I felt –”

Before she could finish, a trapdoor opened under her and the next thing she knew she was falling down a very narrow shaft. She didn’t even have time to scream although, as she fell, she heard shouts echo from above her. She fell approximately fifty feet before landing in a dimly lit interior room somewhere at the very bottom of the mine shaft. The impact from her fall was jarring but thankfully her armor absorbed most of it. She’d be bruised for sure but nothing was broken. Chalking that one up to luck, she adjusted her eyes and looked around. There was a movement to her left, and immediately her gaze locked on the figure standing about six feet away staring at her through the gloom.

Michael.

The hybrid’s eyes glinted through the darkness, raking over her appearance as he tried to decipher whether or not she was a credible threat. He must’ve decided she was because he hissed in warning before addressing her.

“Who are you and how did you find me?”

The quality of his voice surprised her. For someone repudiated to be such a menace he didn’t actually sound all that terrifying. Sure, there was a sense of danger about him but she attributed that more to atmosphere than anything else. There was very little wraith in his voice, no dual tones or subharmonics. There was a resonance not found in a purely human voice but it wasn’t layered like Todd’s. Kate didn’t know what she’d been expecting, but to her he sounded flat.

Which is why she wasn’t compelled to answer him. Instead, she gingerly picked herself up off the floor, looked at him, and then announced, “I’ve got some questions for you.”

Her directness seemed to startle him, and he blinked. Then, staring at her through the darkness, he took a step forwards, “I will not ask again,” he growled, “Who are you and how did you find me?”

Deciding to play his game, at least for now, Kate replied, “You can call me Kate.”

He hissed. “And how did you find me?”

She smirked. “I thought you said you weren’t gonna ask me again?”

Michael snarled and advanced quickly towards the infuriating woman who dared intrude on him. He prided himself on never being caught off guard, unawares – he wanted to know how she had managed it. _Who_ was she? “You try my patience. Explain yourself to me, now!”

But rather than be cowed, the woman reacted. She lunged forwards, catching him by the throat after first ducking his attempts to block her. Her grip was strong, much stronger than a female her size should be capable of. She held him fast and pushed herself into him, forcing him backwards until his back slammed hard into the wall behind him. He exhaled sharply in surprise and then, in the next second, found he had a dagger to his throat.

“Now,” the woman was saying, “Let’s try this again. I’ve got some questions for you.”

Michael snarled. “I will tell you nothing until you tell me who you are and how you managed to find me!”

Putting pressure on her dagger, enough to nick his neck and draw blood, Kate opened her mouth but before she could bite out a retort a far more dangerous voice called to her through the darkness.

“I hardly think you are in any position to be making demands.”

Taking her eyes from her captive, Kate looked behind her and watched as first Todd then her brother, Lorne and finally Teyla seemed to materialize out of the shadows. The wraiths’ eyes were glowing a stunning, electric blue while the others all had their guns raised. Michael let out a hiss of surprise before his eyes narrowed, focusing on the purebred with the distinctive tattoo standing in the midst of the humans. It did not take any great leap of imagination to discern who this individual was.

“You must be Todd.”

It was said with such deep condescension the elder wraith couldn’t help but chuckle. “You’ve heard of me.”

Michael sneered. “You would be surprised how much notoriety you have gained – a powerful elder, willing to work with the humans of Atlantis to achieve mutually beneficial ends. You are well known.”

“By other names as well,” he replied raising a hand as he stepped forwards, beckoning Katherine to his side. She came willingly, relinquishing her hold on her captive who began to breathe easier the moment her blade was dropped.

“What other names?” he demanded, glowering at the arrogance of Sheppard’s pet.

“I am not Sheppard’s pet.”

The Abomination hissed. “You should know better than to enter the minds of others unannounced -”

“And you should know better than to disrespect your elders,” Todd countered, his voice ringing with an authority that left the hybrid appropriately startled.

“You do not look like an elder,” he said snidely, once his surprise had worn off. “Neither do you act like one. An elder would not have allowed himself to become shackled to a host of humans. There are rumors you need them as desperately as they need you.”

Todd snorted. “I do not think you are in any position to know the state of an elder’s mind particularly as you’ve not yet, last I checked, reached a thousand. I, on the other hand, predate the hives which is why perhaps I’ve been given the name Eldest.”

Surprised, John and the others looked intrigued. Kate grinned – Michael looked horrified. “You…you’re…”

“Perhaps now you can see why I’ve every right to enter your mind, or any wraith mind including most queens, at any time I choose.”

The hybrid paled, his pale skin going almost white with the knowledge that the Atlantian’s Todd and the Eldest were one in the same. “What do you want from me?” he asked.

Todd’s eyes slid left towards Katherine who, at his nod, took a deep breath and began talking. “Six weeks ago, we boarded a cruiser. There was a girl on board, in a cell and she was in labor. There were others but they were dead. The girl was dying and I couldn’t save her but I did help her deliver her baby. We took him back to Atlantis and he was fine for about two weeks but then he started getting sick. We’ve tried everything but so far nothing’s worked. We know the ship was yours, the dead girls in the other cells look just like the ones we found in the caves on M47. If you had a hand in his conception, or if he’s part of one of your experiments, if you know how to save him I need you to tell me.”

Blinking, Michael stared at her in surprise. These were not the questions he’d been expecting but, with the threat of the Eldest hovering in the background, he’d gladly tell her all she wished to know. But first he had a question of his own, “Why take the child at all? Most in your position would have killed it on sight.”

“I’m not most people,” she snapped, folding her arms against her breastplate as she continued to stare him down. “Now answer the question. Can you to save him?”

Michael shook his head. “I find it extremely unlikely the child should live. Few of the motem’s make it past their third trimester and those that do generally die in childbirth. To date, most of the females I use in my trials have all tried to lose the child whether by repeatedly throwing themselves at the walls of their cells or by starving their bodies into an abortion.”

John frowned, speaking up for the first time since Todd had led them down here; following his link thing with Kate in order to find her. “That still doesn’t explain what’s wrong,” he said, “Why’s he sick and why is nothing we do making him better?”

“I do not know,” Michael replied sounding genuinely sorry he couldn’t provide them a better answer. “In my experience, even under the most ideal circumstances, most natural born hybrids do not survive infancy. My guess, there is an incapability between our genetics, both wraith and human, which I’ve not yet been able to rectify. It is unfortunate but likely the babe will not live to see another day.”

“So you want me to accept he’s just gonna die, that there’s nothing I can do!” Kate’s voice rose, “I can’t do that!!”

“Whether or not you accept it, it will not change the outcome,” Michael said, “There is nothing you can do. If death wants him – ”

“ _I_ want him!” she screamed, surprising everyone with the power of her conviction. “He’s mine to me and I protect what’s mine so either you tell me how I can save him or I will personally rip out every single one of your fucking teeth!!”

And while Katherine glared, daring the Abomination to defy her, and the others tried to persuade him that helping really was in his best interests – Todd reeled from the impact her words had on him. Protect what’s yours, the mantra of his house; a sentiment he had devoted his life to since the fall of the cities. To hear them now, avowed to so passionately by a female he so deeply respected, who had fought for the right to be seen as an equal since the moment they had first met; it made him want her in a way he had not previously, until that moment, ever considered. 

_Ally._

_Friend._

It had been many centuries since last Todd had found someone he wished to bring into his alliance; into his confidence. His true cause was one for which he had been fighting since the end of the Lantean War, his true purpose to see his race freed from the oppressive control of the queens. It was an agenda he kept hidden, masking it beneath the apparent endless quest for more power. Everything he had done for the past ten thousand years was to further this goal: to save the wraith before they destroyed themselves. His allies were few, mostly comprised of others like him who knew the truth of the war and of their own history. Such was the nature of his plans, so much was at stake, he could not risk conscripting others to his cause unless he was absolutely sure they could be trusted. He did not trust the humans of Atlantis, with this, he did not even trust Katherine but, in the wake of her avow, he felt that given the right motivation, the proper introduction, trust was something he could build.

He wanted her to fight for him with the same devotion and fealty in which she fought for her son and what is more, he wanted her to _want_ to.      

The Abomination was talking; pulling a vial from one of his pockets which he claimed was a sort of stimulant. “I cannot promise that it will save him, but I can promise that it will improve his chances; what little chance he still has. It is all the help I can give you.”

“Thank you,” said Kate, cradling phial to her chest as though it were precious. “I guess I’ll owe you one.”

“I will hold you to it,” Michael said, nodding at them each individually before turning to give a reverent bow to the silent Todd. “Eldest,” he whispered, “I trust I am allowed to leave with my life?”

“You may go,” Todd agreed, “Quickly. Before I change my mind.”

Scrambling to obey, the Abomination retreated; vanishing into the darkness like the ghosts for which their race was named. They watched him go before they themselves took their leave and headed back to the city of the ancestors.

~xXx~

In the end, Michael’s serum only prolonged the inevitable. It was with a heavy heart and wet, red eyes that Jennifer disconnected the baby from the various life-support systems that kept him breathing. His heartbeat was declining in his vitals were fading. Hours after they had returned through the gate it was now only a matter of time.

“Do you want me to stay?” the doctor asked, laying a comforting hand on her friend’s shoulder. Kate said nothing and instead continued to stare down at the bed on which her son lay. She had started calling him her son the moment Woolsey had told her she could keep him and now, as he lay dying, she wished she’d held off because thinking of him like that made it harder than ever to say goodbye. She wasn’t ready for him to leave – she hadn’t even named him yet.  

“Kate?” Jennifer tried again, “Is there anything I can get –”

“Please just go,” the soldier whispered, “I just… I just need to be alone.”      

With a nod, Jennifer back out the infirmary passing by Todd who, for the past three hours, had all but refused to leave. Glancing at him, the blonde pled silently for him to help her friend get through this in any way he could. As she walked away, headed towards the mess hall, she heard him enter behind her and gently whisper Kate’s name.

“Katherine?”

The aggrieved woman didn’t respond. Instead she stared blankly ahead, eyes unblinking, as though lost in a trance. She felt the wraith move closer, settling almost directly beside her, so close she could feel his arm brush hers. An hour ago hell, thirty minutes ago, she would’ve leap away from him but not now. Now his presence was soothing, solid – like an anchor she could hold onto. Todd seemed to sense it and in response, without asking, grasped her hand with his.

“I know this is difficult,” he whispered, “Losing a child is never easy. I have buried several and although the pain lessens with time it never completely fades. It is an ache that will stay with you until the end of your days. The only advantage to this tragedy is that, in future, when you are blessed with children of your own you will treasure them all the more –”

“I can’t have children.”

Curious, head tilted, he glanced at her, his expression begging an explanation.

Kate sighed. “During the first year of the program one of the NC’s was assaulted during an undercover mission. She got pregnant and for nine months couldn’t go out in the field. The project leaders were upset, we were just weapons to them – smart guns. And a gun that can get pregnant, that was a problem. So they fixed it, fixed us. We didn’t find out until later, what they did, how they made sure…how they took that option away from us.”

Beside her, Todd stiffened, looking at her with something akin to horror. “You were sterilized,” he whispered, angry and hurt both on her behalf, “Katherine – ”

“It felt so nice to pretend,” she whispered as the first of her tears finally fell, leaving a hot, wet trail burning down her cheek. “Even if…even if it was only for a little while…” she squeezed his hand, nearly crushing it in hers as she turned back to the bed where it felt like her heart lay.

The baby gasped, suddenly struggling to breathe. His eyes snapped open and he looked at her, his fear evident. Kate could only stand helplessly by as he fought for breath and, when none came, she watched his chest fall for the last time; relinquishing the air he no longer needed. The spark of light faded from his eyes as they closed and then he was still. Kate’s hand flew to her mouth as she stifled a scream and then her whole body was shaking. The damn broke and the sobs came as she pulled her hand from Todd’s and brought it to up to her mouth in an effort to contain her grief.

It didn’t work. Sadness such as she’d never felt before overtook her, causing her knees to buckle. She would have fallen had Todd not wrapped his arms around her, sure hands turning her until she was pressed solidly into the comforting wall of his chest. Hot tears drenched the front of his coat as the wraith began to purr, whispering her name over and over again into her hair. Kate clung to him, burrowing into his arms seeking security and warmth, holding him as tight as she dared. For an hour she cried and for an hour he held her, never faltering; until Sheppard came to take her away.

Only then did he return to his hive.


	7. Blackout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmas time in Atlantis and, for the first time in years, there's enough money to celebrate! Join the Sheppard siblings, Lorne, Cadman, Vega and Woolsey for this holiday themed episode. Oh, and Todd because what's Christmas in Atlantis without one very confused wraith?

**Episode VII: Blackout**

* * *

 

Todd did not like being cold. In fact, it would be fair to say he despised it almost as much as he did being wet. It was therefore quite a shock when he agreed to leave the warmth of the city to go tramping about in the snow following one Colonel John Sheppard. He blamed boredom – and an almost rabid desire to get away from the very annoying Dr. Rodney McKay. Thus it was he found himself on the mainland knee deep in snow, his fingers numb, searching the woods for something called a Christmas tree.

He did not know what it was but he was beginning to hate it. "Sheppard," he called to the human several paces in front of him, "What are we doing?"

Sighing, the colonel glanced back over his shoulder. "I told you, we’re looking for a Christmas tree.”

Cat-like eyes darted sideways, taking survey of their surroundings – they were in a forest. “And what is wrong with any of these?”

"Wrong kind of tree," John explained, plowing forwards. Four steps later he realized Todd wasn’t following. He turned back, “Well? Come on already. Let’s go!”

Against the white backdrop the wraith’s yellow eyes seemed to almost glow. He growled, “What _kind_ of tree are you questing for and _why_ is it so imperative you find one?”

By a narrow margin John Sheppard managed _not_ to roll his eyes. This was so not how he’d pictured spending Christmas. Todd the unwelcomed wraith had showed up several hours ago claiming he needed to talk Woolsey only Woolsey wasn’t here. He was on Earth, explaining the trade agreement with PSI to the IOA. At the last update Director Storm was in a shouting match with the eldest Sheppard and David was winning. They’d told Todd this of course, expecting him to go away and come back later but the bastard had decided to stay. Why was anyone’s guess but because Kate was off world with ART-4 that put _him_ on wraith-watch. It’d been unanimously decided that Colonel Sheppard needed to be the one to go get the tree and because he thought it’d be funny to see Todd walking around in the snow, he’d brought the wraith.

Bad idea. “Like I told you,” he explained grudgingly, “We’re looking for a Christmas tree –”

“I do not know what a _‘Christmas’_ tree is,” Todd sneered. “Perhaps you could be more specific.”

Grinding his teeth in annoyance, John willed himself not to shoot him. It was Christmas, even Todd got some leniency at Christmas although how much had yet to be seen. “It’s an evergreen – a type of tree that stays green all year round.  Its leaves look like green needles and it’s got these things called pinecones all over…”

“A forestfew.”

John squinted. “A forest what now?”

“A forestfew,” repeated Todd. “It is the name these stars have for the tree you have just described. They are fairly common and can be found somewhere on most worlds.”

“I don’t suppose you happen to know where?”

The wraith gave a slow nod. “They are most commonly found near large bodies of water. Is there a lake somewhere nearby?”

Sheppard nodded. “About half a click east.”

Todd still didn’t know what a ‘click’ was or what distance it was associated with; it seemed to vary.  He decided not to ask and simply fell back into step behind the human as Sheppard took off in the direction indicated. A miserable fifteen minutes later they plodded up a hill and found themselves looking out over the shores of a frozen lake.

“Jackpot!” the human exclaimed as he spotted the hundreds of evergreens dotting the landscape, blanketing the surrounding hills in a sea of green. He started down the embankment, already on the hunt for the perfect specimen to go in the newly refurbished rec-room. He found it not five minutes later standing all alone on the north shore.

He called back to Todd, “Hey, make yourself useful – help me cut this thing down!”

“I think not,” the wraith replied, appearing beside him looking more agitated than usual.  “You asked me to help you locate a specific tree and I have done so – you said nothing about assisting you with anything else.”

John glared at him. “Well fine then.” He fished out his radio and tossed it to Todd who barely caught it. If he weren’t so cold he might’ve laughed. “Here. Call us a jumper; I’m gonna go play lumberjack.”

Nodding, Todd watched Sheppard walk away before raising the device to his lips, mimicking the address he was most familiar with. “Atlantis, do you copy?”

For a moment there was no response then, he heard Major Lorne’s voice, “This is Atlantis – Todd is that you?”

“It is.”

“Why do you have the colonel’s radio?”

“Because he gave it to me!” snarled the wraith, temper a fair bit shorter than usual. He had already raised his body’s temperature as high as it was safe to go, anymore and he might suffer brain damage.  He longed for the warmth of Atlantis even if it was crawling with humans. “We require transport. Sheppard has located one of your Christmas trees.”

“Sweet!” the major’s voice came back to him, filled with an excitement Todd simply could not understand. “Just sit tight. We actually already had a jumper on its way – should be at your location in like ten minutes.”

The radio fell silent whereupon Todd stuffed it into one of his pockets before making fists of his hands and shoving them under his arms in a vain attempt to warm them. A harsh wind blew making it nearly impossible to blot out the cold. He needed a wind breaker and, fortunately for him, there was an outcropping of boulders to his left, a short walk away. While Sheppard toiled, Todd took shelter against the snow covered ledge; mind ruminating on what he might do once he returned to the city.  

He was in the middle of trying to meditate himself into being warmer when he heard the approach of the shuttle. Looking up, he saw it coming from the east, skimming over the very tops of the trees. The gate ship landed on the bank of the frozen lake, its back hatch lowering as soon as the craft was settled. The first person to immerge was a female Todd recognized as Captain Alicia Vega, the second was Katherine.

His back straightened, the cold lessened; no longer as biting. This was the first he had seen of her since his arrival and, admittedly, her absence was one of the reasons he had decided to stay. He had failed, of course, to mention this to Sheppard and it was highly unlikely he would. The human was already prone to over analyzing his dealings with Katherine, he did not need to give him further reason to suspect he wanted something from her other than solidarity. Given his plans, he could ill afford Sheppard’s interference.

“Todd.”

Startled from his thoughts by the female around they which they revolved, the wraith turned intending to reply. Instead he stopped and cocked his head, studying her very unusual attire. Obviously not a uniform or anything similar Katherine wore thick, black boots, strange dark blue pants and some kind of jacket that added unnecessary bulk to her lithe frame. He frowned thinking he did not much care for what she was wearing. Leather would have suited her better or perhaps a gown, something similar to what she had worn during the McKay’s bonding ceremony. As soon as he thought it, Todd wondered why her attire suddenly mattered. He had little care for what the other humans of Atlantis wore, why did Katherine inspire such consideration?

The answer eluded him as he pushed his thoughts aside and bowed his head in greeting. “Katherine.”

Raising an eyebrow, Kate decided to ignore the look on his face in favor of a much more pressing concern. “You’re the last person I expected to see out here. Thought you hated the cold?”

“I do but I believe your brother thought it would be amusing to subject me to this…ritual.”

Kate snickered. Yes, unfortunately that sounded like John. “You should be honored. Going out to get the Christmas tree’s a big deal.”

Todd cocked his head, this time in the other direction. “And my suffering…”

Her eyes twinkled; a wide smile dancing across her lips, “Just an added bonus.”

Growling softly, Todd found himself grateful Katherine did not seem to hold grudges the same way her brother did. Whatever tension still left between them seemed to have vanished.

 “You’re smiling.”

He blinked, unaware he had been. “Am I?”

She nodded. “You look like the cat that ate the canary.”

He decided not to ask what that meant although he did note that this was the second time Katherine had compared him to a feline from Earth. “Is it a crime to be pleased?”

“It is if it’s you, according to John.”

“And your thoughts on the matter?” he queried.

She shrugged. “I think you don’t have enough reasons be happy.”

Not for the first time, Todd found himself surprised by her astuteness. Her ability to observe and interpret was a dangerous combination under the best of circumstances, especially for someone attempting to secret his agenda. Todd was normally cautious but for some reason, with her, he could not help the desire to be reckless.

He turned to her and said, “Then, perhaps in future, it shall be your task to see that I have more.”

With a gasp of surprise, Kate felt her breath catch. Had he really just said…did that mean…was he _flirting_ with her?

Meanwhile, over by the jumper, Alicia Vega looked up from securing the tree and came to the same conclusion Kate had. Todd was leaning towards her, his expression feral, looking every inch the predator he was. If he’d been human his body language would’ve been easy to read and while dangerous to assume, Vega decided to run with it anyway. Sparing a glance towards the colonel (who was on top of the jumper making sure the tree was properly tied down) she turned and shouted, in the general direction of Todd and Kate, “Hey! You two! If you’re done flirting with each other we can go – I’m freezing my ass off here!!”

A loud squawk followed by a string of curse words filled the air, preempting them from answering as John slipped and fell backwards, toppling off the jumper into a pile of snow. He landed with a _whump_ and several seconds later ticked by before his head come popping up like a black haired gopher.

Vega was laughing hysterically, Sheppard glared at her. “It’s not funny!”

“Yes it is!” she cackled, laughing so hard her sides hurt. “You’re so easy, it’s fucking hilarious.”

His glare intensified. “I outrank you.”

Still giggling, the captain shook her head. “What’re you gonna do? Have me court-marshalled? Go right ahead Sir, O’Neil’ll laugh you outta his office.”

He stood, scowling as he brushed himself off. “I’m gonna remember this,” he mumbled, shooting her another glare, “When Christmas’s over don’t be surprised if you end up on night detail for the next month.”

Vega shrugged. “Eh, whatever makes you feel better Sir.”

The colonel glowered; his sister snorted and even Todd seemed unable to withhold a grin. The humans were certainly in a rare form at present – acting like children. They were free and wild and so terribly unfretted that at that moment he found himself envious of their ability to retain traces of the innocence they had had in their youths. His was long gone, a casualty of his advanced age and the millennia’s he had dedicated to his quest – he had never missed it until now. 

Sheppard was talking. “Alright, that’s enough; I’m serious captain. Night details, a whole month. Now stop laughing and get your ass in the jumper. Kate, Todd, you too. Let’s go.”

Wordlessly the three of them, wraith included, obeyed; choosing their seats while Sheppard plopped down into the pilot’s chair and took hold of the controls. They were airborne in a matter of moments.

“So Todd…”

The wraith sighed resignedly, “Yes Sheppard?”

John threw him a look. “Oh don’t give me that – you’re the one who decided to stick around. You can still leave by the way, door’s open. Don’t let it hit you on the way out.”

“Why waste the journey? In the time it would take my hive to return for me Mr. Woolsey will have returned.”

And while this was true, that didn’t mean John had to like it. In fact, it was safe to say he hated the idea. Christmas with Todd oh joy. He surrendered with a growl. “Fine, stay – but I’m not gonna let you ruin the next couple days for everyone else. You wanna stick around and wait for Woolsey, okay. But you gotta participate.”

Todd was not entirely sure he liked the sound of that. The last time Sheppard had made him take part in some arcane human ritual he had not enjoyed himself. “Participate how?”

An evil grin slowly spread over the colonel’s face. “Well, you’d make an awful good Grinch.”

Vega let out a bark of laughter while Kate, who was trying very hard not to grin, shook her head. “No.”

Her brother pouted. “Ah, but Katie Beth – it’d be funny. He’s already green -”

“You’re not turning him into the Grinch, you’re not making him wear a Santa hat – you’re not gonna make him do anything you wouldn’t want me to do to you.” Her expression was warning, “Understood?”

Arguing with her would’ve been pointless. When it came to Todd Kate somehow always managed to ruin his fun. It was a conspiracy. “Yeah, okay. Fine,” he mumbled sullenly, returning to the flight controls. “Then what _are_ we gonna do with him?”

“We could teach him how to play poker,” suggested Vega, “Or oooh! What about – we could teach him how to do shots!”

“Shots of what?” asked Todd, under no delusions that his participation in whatever activity they decided upon would be voluntary. The humans would subject him to whatever ritual they saw fit, most probably whichever one would discomfort him the most. They had done it before and he was not looking forwards to having them do it again.

Vega was surprised. “You mean to tell me that in the five years you’ve known us nobody’s ever shown you a drinking game!? _Seriously_!?!”

Frowning at the controls, John made a face. “I don’t know if giving him alcohol’s a good idea.”

Kate snorted. “I’d’ve figured you’d want him drunk.”

Her brother looked at her as if she were crazy. “Why the hell would I want that!?!”

“Alcohol lowers inhibitions,” she explained. “Considering how much you complain about the stick he’s got shoved up his ass I’d have figured you would’ve tried it by now.”

Offended, Todd snarled. “I do not have a – ”

“It’s an expression!” John growled. “Means you’re an uptight, arrogant, condescending bastard ninety-nine percent of the time and you know, now that I think about it, Kate’s got a point. Getting you plastered might be an improvement.”

Vega let out a whoop of triumph. “Shots it is then!”

Todd made a face. “I do not suppose I have a say in this?” He looked to Katherine. She was smiling at him, her eyes twinkling with mischievous intent. He scowled, “I will take that as a no.”

“There, there,” she soothed, patting his knee. “You’ll live, I promise. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

He glared at her and she glared back, lips twisting upwards into a mocking grin; eyes smiling. She was teasing him, making fun and while Todd did not normally allow such things, for her he would make an exception. For the rest of the ride back to the city the humans chatted about inconsequential things while Todd listened, uninterested for the most part but curious enough to pay a small amount of attention. Christmas, as far as he could tell, was a religious holiday of some significance; enough to warrant down time off for the entirety of the city. Todd hardly cared except for the knowledge that when they landed he would be spending the rest of his time before Woolsey’s return with Katherine.

That pleased him.

When they were a few minutes out Sheppard hailed Atlantis to request clearance and that somebody be waiting in the jumper bay to help him unload the tree. Since it was going to the rec-room, he decided to park in the east bay to avoid having to haul the tree down thirty flights of stairs. He also didn’t think it’d fit in the transporter. Vega had somewhere to be and apparently Kate needed to talk to Todd so Sheppard was glad to see both Lorne and Ryan waiting for him as soon as they docked. While the men started to maneuver the tree, Vega skipped off to God only knows where while Kate turned to Todd and motioned for him to follow.

Dutifully the wraith fell in beside her. “You wish to speak to me?”

She nodded, taking a deep breath before she began. “I wanted to thank you, for what you did, helping with Michael and my…the baby –”

He cut her off. “You do not need to thank me. I did not do it to earn your gratitude.”

“I know, but you’re gonna get it anyway,” she explained, hoping he wouldn’t interrupt her a second time. She really needed to get this out. It’d been bugging her for ever since he’d left. “No one’s ever done something like that for me and – you’ve no idea what it means to me that you did.”

Todd found that very hard to believe. “Not even your brother?”

Kate shook her head. “No, not even John. He would’ve tried to compromise, find a way to make us both happy. He’d never, I mean – you know Michael’s gonna go tell everyone who you are, right? If he thinks he can get away with it, he’ll sell the information to the highest bidder. When you explained it to me, I knew what I was asking for but I…I still can’t believe you gave that up just to help me.”

“I owed you a debt. You freely gave me your life in order to save mine and, as a result, you were burdened with emotions which were not your own. They caused you discomfort, pain even – I could feel it.” He stopped, turning to look at her in a corridor not very far from the city’s dining hall. If she wanted to thank him he would let her but, at the same time, he wanted her to understand how grateful _he_ was that she had not abused her power. Such was the nature of what was owed, she could have asked for anything – information, his _name_ – and he would have given it freely.

“Katherine –”

“I knew you’d give me whatever I asked for,” she whispered, grey eyes searching his for what she knew was there. “If I had asked for the keys to your castle or for you to dye the ocean Pepto-Bismol pink I knew you would’ve done it. I could’ve asked for anything but I…”

Todd was curious. “Why did you not?”

She sighed. “Because there’s a saying on my planet: with great power comes great responsibility. It’s from a comic but that doesn’t make it any less true. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should and I…I didn’t want to hurt you.”

Her confession startled him but also cemented his faith in her. “Which is why I trust you,” he replied, stepping closer. “You understand power, both what it means to have it and what it means to have it held against you. It is a concept very few grasp which makes you superior. A queen among humans.”

Kate’s mouth took a downwards turn, not overly thrilled with the comparison. “I don’t know if I like the sound of that.”

Todd hissed. “That was meant to be a compliment.”

Kate sighed. “Well next time just tell me I’ve got a nice ass or something. I’ll even give you bonus points if you say it in front of John.”

He smiled, lips pulling back into a wide grin that showed every single one of his pointed teeth. “I shall take that under advisement.”

“You do that.” They started walked again, a little faster this time as Kate was thirsty and the mess hall supposedly had a crap ton of eggnog (not to mention every type of Christmas cookie known to man). She giggled at the thought of handing Todd a mug and getting him to try some. She was willing to bet he’d do it.

“Come on,” she urged, looping her arm through his, encouraging him to walk faster, “There’s something I want you to try…”

~xXx~

The last time Atlantis had had Christmas was during Colonel Carter’s administration and although Woolsey would’ve liked to celebrate the holiday, during his tenure there simply hadn’t been enough funds. Now with PSI effectively holding the purse strings money was no longer an issue. There were garlands everywhere, the gate had been decorated, there were lights framing nearly every doorway and window, someone had stashed poinsettia’s everywhere, there were menorahs on at least half the mess hall tables, luminarias lined the hallways and the entire city smelled like juniper berries.

And there was food. Lots and Lots of food.

To celebrate, everyone had been given the next three days off and the kitchen staff – along with anyone else who felt so inclined – wasted no time in diving into the supplies the Daedalus had delivered specifically for the occasion. Every folding table the city had had come out of storage and now lined the walls of the mess; most of them buckling under the weight of pies, cakes, candies, cookies, mashed potatoes, plates of latkes, bowels of chocolate coins, yule logs, cranberry sauces, fruit cake and every type of wintery beverage you could possibly think of. There were no less than six dispensers for eggnog – half of which were spiked with everything from rum to Everclear – while a dozen more were filled with everything from wassail to tea. Just looking at it all was enough to give any sane person one hell of a toothache.

“That’s a lot of food,” grossed Cadman, taking it all in. The EOD expert had done short tours in Atlantis before but had never been stationed here. Now, with the new budget, she and about fifty others had arrived on the Daedalus along with the garlands, the supplies and all the lights. “I don’t think we can eat it all.”

Ronon snickered. “Major Lewis is gonna try,” he remarked, nodding towards the table the major was standing In front of. “That’s his fourth plate.”

“He does seem to be returning with some frequency,” Teyla observed, also eyeing the major. “One does wonder where he plans to put it all.”

“Speaking of food, where’s Rodney?” Cadman asked, turning to Jennifer. “I figured he’d be out here stuffing his face.”

The physicist’s wife gave a soft smile. “Tedly’s team brought back some device from P47 – X13. He’s trying to figure out what it does.”

“So he’ll be a while?”

She nodded. “I’ll be surprised if he makes an appearance before dinner.”

Sniggering, Cadman took a sip of her cider. From the corner of her eye she caught sight of Vega and waved her over, kicking out the empty chair on Ronon’s left.

Alicia sat down. “’Sup guys!? There any eggnog left?”

“Enough to fill a small pool,” Laura informed her. “Quite possibly more than one.”

The captain snorted.

“Where’s Kate?” Ronon asked.

“She’ll be here. Now she’s back she’s on Todd-duty. I know she wanted to talk to him so I think they’re taking the long way.”

The Setedan grunted. Jennifer frowned, “What’d she wanna talk to him about?”

Vega shrugged. “She didn’t go big into detail but it’s something to do with what happened last time. I know the colonel didn’t really give her a chance to thank him and I think she wanted to.”

Cadman glanced around. “Who’s Kate?”

“Kate Sheppard, NC26 – 74. She’s the colonel’s sister.”

Laura’s mouth dropped open. “Are you fucking kidding me!?!”

The whole table shook their heads.

Cadman couldn’t believe it. “So, lemme get this straight. Sheppard’s got a sister nobody knew about, she turns up outta the blue and she’s a fucking super-solider!?! Isn’t that a bit odd?”

“Well when you put it like that…” said Jennifer. “But you know, until his dad died what, two years ago now – we didn’t even know he had a brother. It’s not that farfetched he’d have another sibling and not tell us. I mean, when was the last time Sheppard told us something personal without somebody having to drag it out of him? We didn’t know anything about his dad’s company either.”

That was a fair point – John Sheppard wasn’t exactly known for being all that forthcoming with the personal info. When looked at that way, Laura could see why a sister turning up out of nowhere wasn’t actually all that odd. The super solider thing might not be a conspiracy but it would take some getting used to; more for personal reasons than anything else. In the past year she’d had met several of the former NC26 soldiers and, in her experience, they weren’t exactly a pleasant bunch. If Kate was anything like them the two of them, they would not be getting along which brought her to her next inquiry.

“So what’s her deal with Todd?”

“He’s her assignment,” Vega explained, pausing a moment before delving deeper into the history between the two. Despite the relatively short time they’d known each other (five months give or take a week or two) a lot of shit had gone down not least of which was the whole baby, Michael, Todd thinks Kate’s hot, she let him eat her and oh, by the way, there’s apparently some side effects to the gift of life thing.

That last part didn’t make sense. “Then why didn’t it happen with the colonel?” Laura asked, “Todd gave him the gift and _he_ didn’t suddenly gain the ability to feel him –”

“From what I have been given to understand, the NC26 serum not only enhanced Kate’s physical abilities but her mental ones as well,” Teyla explained. She turned to Jennifer, “Did you not tell me her brain shows a higher level of activity then what is considered normal?”

The doctor nodded. “Her synaptic activity’s about fifteen percent above average. It’s how she’s able to memorize things so fast. Her brain chemistry’s fascinating. Did you know – ”

“Yeah, we get it doc, the serum fucked with her head,” Vega interrupted. “That why she could read Todd’s mind?”

“Kate did not gain the ability to read his mind, only his emotions,” said Teyla.

“Which are what?” Laura demanded, still finding this all very hard to believe, “Pissed off, more pissed off and with a side note of mmmm you taste good?”

Teyla sighed. It was absolutely pointless to try and persuade them that the wraith experienced emotion the same way humans did. Had she not gained such a proficiency utilizing her wraith DNA, Teyla may not have believed it either. The fact remained however that the wraith did feel, they were not emotionless, and Todd felt perhaps more deeply than most. But like many uncomfortable truths about their ally, the Atlantians preferred false ignorance. The revelation that there was a biological compatibility between the races should not have come as such a surprise, not when there was so much evidence to support it. Granted yes, it was an uncomfortable topic but pretending something did not exist did not make it go away.

Such was the nature of Todd’s relationship with Kate – Colonel Sheppard was perfectly content to pretend there wasn’t one even _after_ the wraith had left and then returned all by his sister’s wish. He had used his influence for her benefit and he had given up the advantage of anonymity for no other reason than she had asked him to. And then, if that was not enough, there was the fact that he had held her and comforted her after the child had died. Both she and Ronon had gone with John to check on her only to find her clinging to him, quietly sobbing while Todd purred and carded his fingers through her hair. That was not nothing and no matter how much John wished it, it was not just going to go away.

A hush fell suddenly over the room breaking the Athosian from her thoughts. Turning, the entire mess hall took in the sight of Major Sheppard all but dragging Todd towards the nearest drink station. And, as if _that_ sight wasn’t strange enough, the wraith actually looked happy – smiling indulgently at her as she pulled him along. The display was met with numerous open mouths and stares as the pair reached the table and Sheppard’s sister filled a mug from one of the dispensers before handing it expectantly to the alien. To the collective surprise of all he tried it, raising the cup to his lips in order to take a tentative sip. He made a face soon after that was half surprise half incredulousness.

Kate smirked, her grin wider then then Cheshire cat’s. Forty plus people gasped in surprise as Todd took another sip. He liked it, holy crap! Whatever she’d given him he actually fucking _liked_! Any minute now the world was gonna end they were sure of it.

But it didn’t.

After filling her own cup, and grabbing a plateful of cookies, Kate waved at Todd to follow her as she led him around the throng of people – all of whom were busily trying to look like their attention _wasn’t_ focused on them – to an empty table tucked away in the furthest corner of the room. They sat down, falling effortlessly into conversation as though unaware their every move was being watched. Midway through their discussion, they each took an almost unperceivable look around proving, at least to Teyla, that they were aware of the scrutiny. In the next moment, Todd’s relaxing of his shoulders and Kate’s animated hand gestures as she sought to explain something to him proved they didn’t care.

Minutes later the mess hall occupants were shocked again when Kate, apparently in protest of something Todd was saying, got fed up and unceremoniously shoved a cookie into his mouth. Likely it was done to shut him up and while the onlookers all awaited the backlash it never game. Instead of growling or snarling or doing anything even remotely threatening, Todd calmly removed the cookie and placed it back on her plate. His only response turned out to be a blithe expression of exasperation which did absolutely nothing to quell Kate’s suddenly uncontrollable fit of giggles. In fact, after watching her for several minutes, Todd started chuckling.

An astonished Cadman almost dropped her cup. “Holy shit!” she exclaimed, completely floored by what she was seeing. After all the stories she’d heard, he wasn’t even angry. What the hell?

Their conversation resumed and, for the next half hour, the mesmerized occupants of the mess hall were treated to the widest display of expressions seen on Todd to date. He smiled, smirked, moved his head and made gestures with his hands – all in response to things Kate seemed to be asking him. It was uncanny watching him interact like a normal person, yellow eyes reflecting joy; pointed teeth on frequent display.

And then, like all good things, it ended.

Dr. McKay arrived, sweeping into the room on the hunt for Todd completely oblivious to what he’d walked in on.

“There you are!” he exclaimed, making a bee-line towards the wraith as soon as he saw him. “I’ve looked everywhere. Why aren’t you with Sheppard? Never mind, doesn’t matter. I need your help…”

A loud growl cut him off, causing him to come up about a yard shy of Todd’s table. The wraith’s relaxed posture was gone and in its place was the tough as nails, I-will-eat-you-if-you-so-much-as-breathe-wrong-you-stupid-human persona they all were all familiar with. It would seem as though Todd were not turning over a new leaf, he was not getting nicer; he only seemed to act like it around Kate.

And McKay was not Kate. “What do you want?” Todd demanded.

Rodney swallowed. “I ah…n-need your help. S-since you’re here,” he stammered.

The wraith released a growl and let out a low hiss. “And do you not care that I, perhaps, have no interest in helping you?”

The scientist blinked. “B-but…I need -”

“I do not care what you need. Go away. I am otherwise occupied and your presence is beginning to wear on me.”

McKay looked about ready to feint.

Kate sighed. “Maybe you could go help him, just for a little bit.”

He looked to her. “You have tired of me? I had thought you were enjoying our discussions -”

“And I am,” she assured him. “But I know Rodney, he’ll take out the fact you refused to help him on some poor, defenseless lab tech who doesn’t deserve being yelled at. We can talk some more tomorrow; I know where to find you.”

For a moment, Todd didn’t speak. Then, he released a sigh of resignation.

“Very well, I will assist. But only if I have your word I will see you on the marrow.”

Kate smiled and gave her promise prompting the wraith to turn on his heel and follow the scientist from the room like a great black shadow. He paused just as they reached the transporter and looked back, eyes seeking Katherine’s one last time. They met and held for approximately ten seconds before he looked away and dutifully boarded the transport. Now alone at their table, Kate settled back into her chair, pulled a tablet from one her pockets and started to scroll through it, reading. Slowly the noise level began to rise until it was back where it was before she and Todd had entered. She could guess what they were all talking about and she didn’t care. Let them talk; there was no point in trying to stop them.

Ignoring the whispers, she took a sip of her drink and returned to her reading. 

~xXx~

At midnight, after checking on Todd to make sure he and Rodney hadn’t killed each other yet, Kate went to bed. She woke up fairly early despite having the day off as was habit – seven years of getting up at the ass crack of dawn made it virtually impossible to sleep past five. She took a shower, got dressed, spent a little more time on her make-up than usual, actually curled her hair then headed towards the mess in search of coffee and breakfast. Having secured both, she headed towards the table she usually shared with Jennifer, Lorne and Vega. Two out of the three were there and so was another woman. Kate sat down anyway and traded greetings before asking the newcomer to identify herself.

“Laura Cadman, Captain,” came the reply. “I’m the one who -”

 “– Kissed Beckett while trapped in McKay’s body. I heard.” Kate offered her a grin, “Bet that was fun.”

Cadman shrugged. “Eh, you only live once.”

Alicia snickered, turning to Kate as she took a sip of coffee. “So where’s Todd? Not that I’m complaining but shouldn’t he be with you?”

“He’s not a dog, it’s not like he’s gonna pee on the carpet if I’m not there to watch him.” She frowned, pausing over her eggs. “I’m pretty sure he’s still in McKay’s lab.”

Vega raised an eyebrow.

Kate sighed. “I checked on him once before I went to bed and his room’s right next to mine. I’m a light sleeper; if he’d have gone to bed I would’ve heard him.”

“Light sleeper my ass,” Alicia snorted. “If a mouse farted you’d wake up and try to shoot it. At least your aim’s better than Teldy’s.”

“How _is_ Anne these days?” asked Cadman, unable to hide the dislike she had for the woman. She hoped Kate wasn’t a fan, she knew Vega and Jennifer weren’t. “Still insisting we’re all oppressed and all men are pigs?”

“More or less,” Vega nodded. “She’s gotten better though, recently. I haven’t heard her say anything bad in a while.”

“That’s because Kate broke her larynx,” Jennifer told them. “For two weeks now she hasn’t been able to say anything.”

Surprised, both captains felt their mouths open. Cadman recovered first, “Not that I’m complaining, but how’d you break her larynx?”

“Headlock,” said Kate, shrugging flippantly. “She and Ryes were sparring, updating her hand to hand, only he was too afraid to do anything except block so I took over. Turns out, she’s not as good as she thinks she is.”

That made Laura’s day. “You know, I think I’m gonna like you.”

Grinning, the super soldier went back to her eggs. She was almost done when Lorne appeared and joined the four women at the table. “Good morning ladies. How’re you all on this fine Christmas Eve?”

A chorus of ‘goods’ was the reply before the major turned to Kate. “So, stopped by the control room on my way down here. Turns out your brother David just got an invite to spend Christmas in Atlantis. He’ll be here with Woolsey within the hour.”

Kate blinked. “David’s coming here? Why?”

Lorne shrugged. “Apparently it’s some kind of reward for the way he handled Storm. You know, practically handing the man his ass on a silver tray in front of the President, the joint Chiefs and about half the top brass in Washington. O’Neil asked him if he’d like to come see the city he helped save and he said yeah.”

Kate made a face.

Jennifer frowned. “Shouldn’t you be happy? You’re going to get to spend Christmas with both your brothers.”

“And Todd,” Vega reminded them, almost positive that he was the reason her friend didn’t seem excited. “You’re stuck with him until he leaves.”

“Well Woolsey’ll be back in an hour,” Jennifer reasoned, “After Todd talks to him he should go right? Then you won’t have to –”

“Call it a hunch but I’ve got a feeling Todd wants to do more than just talk,” Kate sighed, pushing away her tray. “He wants something – don’t know what but, whatever it is, he wants it bad enough to put up with my brother’s attempts to turn him into the Grinch until he gets it. Chalk it up to having been inside his head for so long but even after he talks to Woolsey I don’t see him going anywhere. He’s gonna stick around  which means that while everyone _else_ is drinking buttered rum and opening presents I get a fucking wraith for Christmas. Yay me.”

Lorne frowned. “I thought you liked Todd?”

“I don’t _dis_ like him,” Kate said. “He’s…gotten better but he’s still Todd – arrogant and argumentative are his middle names, if wraith had middle names. Playing nice with him isn’t exactly easy.”

“You seemed to be doing a pretty good job of it yesterday,” Laura commented dryly. “You shoved a fucking cookie in his mouth.”

Lorne, the only one at the table who hadn’t been there, felt his eyes widen. “You shoved a _what_ in his mouth!?!”

“A cookie,” Kate said, leaning back in her chair. She crossed her arms, “He pissed me off and I wanted him to shut up.”

“So you shoved a cookie into his mouth?” Lorne blinked, “What’d he do to you?”

“Nothing. He just gave her this look and then started to chuckle like he thought it was funny,” Vega explained. “You ask me, it was fucking creepy.”

“What was creepy?”

The table turned, Colonel Sheppard was standing behind them, arms crossed and looking curious. His expression told them he was waiting. “It’s nothing,” his sister told him, in no mood to get a lecture on stupidity from someone who made stupid decisions on an almost daily basis. “You wanted something?”

His eyes narrowed. He didn’t believe her, not by a long shot but, for now, he was prepared to let it go. He’d find out later, probably from Lorne. His second in command couldn’t keep a secret if his life depended on it. “Woolsey’s due back in like ten minutes – figured we’d go meet him so you could tell him about Todd.”

Pushing back her chair, Kate stood and gestured for him to lead the way. He surprised her by looping his arm through hers like she’d done with Todd yesterday, jovially waving to the others before dragging his sister towards the nearest transporter. When they reached the gate-room Earth had already stared dialing in so they didn’t have long to wait. Less than a minute later Mr. Woolsey was came walking through the even horizon followed closely by a bewildered and awestruck looking David Sheppard who froze promptly at the sight of both his brother and sister. Kate smiled at him, excitement coiling in spite of the grim prognosis she’d spouted off earlier. John, on the other hand, stiffened and stared at his brother in shock.

“What the hell are you doing here!?!”

David’s smile was coarse. “Well hello to you too John, Merry Christmas.”  

To the side, Richard Woolsey grinned at the sight of Colonel Sheppard speechless. Kate, meanwhile, pulled her arm from John’s, jogged down the stairs and walked up to David, throwing her arms around him in a warm hug. “Hey big brother.”

He kissed her forehead, “Hey Katie Beth. Merry Christmas.”

John was confused, confused and more than a little bit stunned. He searched his memory, trying to recall another instance where Kate and David had greeted each other this warmly. Nothing came to mind. “Are we in the _‘Twilight Zone’_? Since when are you two so happy to see –”

“Seven years, John,” said David, pulling back from Kate so he could look their brother in the eye. “You were gone for seven years. Without you, who do you think she turned to?”

Now that hurt. “It’s not my fault! Kate left first, why don’t you tell her –”

“Trust me; she’s already heard it. Now it’s your turn. You disappeared, after you promised her you’d always be there you up and vanished off the face of the earth. Do you have any idea – ”

“Todd’s here!” announced Kate, raising her voice to a shout so she could be heard over her brother’s bickering. Now was neither the time nor the place to be having this discussion. She looked at Woolsey, “He showed up yesterday, says he needs to talk to you.”

“Concerning?”

She shrugged. “He didn’t elaborate. All he’d tell me is that it’s important and vital that he speaks with you. He’s in McKay’s lab; want me to go get him?”

The director nodded. “Please do. Bring him to my office, we’ll talk there. In the meantime, Colonel,” he turned to Sheppard, “Why don’t you take your brother and give him a tour of the city. I’ll send Major Sheppard to you once our guest’s been taken care off.”

Knowing a dismissal when he heard one, John gave a quick jerk of his head before grabbing David and dragging him off down the nearest hallway. Kate, meanwhile, gave Woolsey a nod before heading to the transporter. The doors opened to the sounds of an argument and, knowing how short Todd’s temper tended to be where McKay was concerned, she made a beeline for the lab at an accelerated speed. She appeared just in time to stop Rodney from getting eaten. 

“Well you two look like you’re having fun.”

As one both human and wraith spun towards the door – the former with a look of terror and the latter with an expression of relief. “Katherine.”

She smirked at the thought of him being so happy to see her. “Woolsey’s back. He’s in his office so you can talk now. He sent me to come get you.”

“But I’m not done with him!” Rodney exclaimed, oblivious to the scathing, yellow glare suddenly aimed in his direction. “We’ve still got -”

“Oh trust me,” said Kate, “You’re done.” Her gaze shifted, landing on Todd the extremely vexed looking wraith, “You look like you’re about five seconds away from an aneurism.”

He growled. “I have been contemplating for several hours now the repercussions of shortening Dr. McKay’s life.”

Rodney’s face turned white.

Kate snickered. “You know, I bet if you tried hard enough you could convince Woolsey it was necessary. We all know how persuasive you can be.”

A jagged, toothy grin spread across Todd’s face giving him the look of a hungry shark. Rodney McKay swallowed hard. “N-no, no…that’s okay,” he stammered, “Y-you take him. H-have fun…”

Still grinning, this time in triumph, Todd turned to Katherine and followed the female into the hall. “Was Mr. Woolsey’s journey successful?” he queried, once they were away from the labs. “Your IOA has been taken care of?”

“Eh,” she shrugged, “More or less. We still have to answer to them but they’re no longer holding the purse strings. Storm was pissed.”

“I can imagine. No doubt he was surprised to have been…outplayed.”

Kate sniggered. “Storm’s arrogant; he’s a lot like the wraith. It completely baffles him that someone out there might just be smarter then he is.”

Beside her, Todd raised a brow-ridge and looked down; clearly amused.

She looked back at him. “Oh, don’t look at me like that – you _know_ it’s true. And you’re the worst.”

The wraith grinned. “It is not arrogance if I am right.”

She snorted. “Humble is not your strong suit is it?”

His grin festered. “I am humble when the situation calls for it.” They boarded the transporter, exiting it at the hallway that would deliver them to the gate-room. Upon arrival they mounted the stairs, ascending into the control room and progressing towards Woolsey’s office. “I will admit though, that it not often.”

Kate shook her head, shaking with silent laughter. “You’re something else you know that?”

“Something else good, I hope,” the wraith replied, levity fading into seriousness as he continued, “I should hate to be a disappointment to you, Katherine.”

Her breath caught as Kate suddenly realized they were no longer playing. The look in his eyes was intense, almost hypnotic; hunting in its depth and acuteness. She couldn’t look away, she couldn’t even blink. What the hell had happened, how did they get here and why, _why_ did he have to look at her like that? Like he was trying to look through her eyes and into her soul – what did he _want_ from her? Why was he –

“Ahem.”

The moment shattered and in an instant, by the time Todd’s eyes had shifted to Woolsey’s, the wraith’s expression had returned to its normal mask of practiced neutrality. Kate was having a little more difficulty, her heart was hammering against her chest so hard she swore Mr. Woolsey would be able to hear it. Todd definitely could but he wasn’t looking at her. His attention was directed towards Woolsey who looked uncomfortable – the kind of uncomfortable you got from walking in on something personal or intimate. Deciding he didn’t want to think why they’d been staring at each other, he turned to address Todd.

“I understand you need to speak to me?”

“I do,” the wraith replied, shifting away from Katherine as he spoke; surprised by how close to her he had gotten. “I wish to discuss a matter of some importance involving my alliance.” He paused a moment, allowing his eyes to slide left before returning them to Woolsey, “And Katherine.”

The director of Atlantis wasn’t surprised; Kate on the other hand was more shocked. “What does your alliance have to do with me?”

“Perhaps we should move this discussion to my office,” suggested Woolsey, eyeing Todd before he could answer, “Unless of course you’d rather have it out here?”

Growling softly, the wraith moved past him and into the office proper were he stood in front of the human’s desk. Katherine came to rest beside him, shooting furtive glances at him every few seconds. Woolsey settled himself in his chair, leaned forwards, and clasped his hands over the papers stacked there. “Now,” he began, “What’s all this about?”

Drawing a deep breath, Todd gathered his thoughts before beginning his explanation. First, he needed to make them understand. “I am old, Mr. Woolsey, far older then the majority of wraith you have encountered. Amongst my kind I am known as Eldest, the oldest wraith to still live. This is exaggerated of course, there are some still older than me but not many. And not so well known. When I was born the wraith had not yet reached the stars.”

Woolsey was surprised. “You mean to tell me you’re older than the hives? You were born on a planet?”

Todd nodded. “Some twelve thousand years ago the wraith were not so very different than most human societies. We had cities, we traded and yes, we warred. There was no gate on our world so we were isolated. We knew of no other planets, no other ways of life besides our own. This changed when the Lanteans descended upon us from the heavens in their great ships. They studied us, taught us and gave us the knowledge upon which to build so that we might join them. We left our world a mere two decades after the Lanteans found us and we were betrayed by them in less than a handful more. I know this city contains records that contain evidence to the contrary but I assure you they are false. It was not the wraith who started the war.”

Woolsey’s eyes widened behind the polished glass of his spectacles, “You’re telling me the Ancients started it? But…why would they do that? And how do you know -”

“I lived it,” Todd replied. “I was on the ship that was first attacked; I barely escaped with my life. We did nothing to provoke them, certainly not what they accused us of. They were our allies, our mentors and teachers. We did not betray them, they betrayed us.”

And while Woolsey didn’t seem to know how to process this Kate was having far less difficulty. “Well that makes sense.”

“It _does_?” the director squeaked, looking more than a little incredulous.

She nodded. “I’ve seen it before. The Ancients paint themselves to be these altruistic, Dumbledore-ish types that’re always looking out for everyone’s best interests when in fact, they’re looking out for themselves just like the rest of us. We’re actually not all that different and thinking we are just gets people killed.”

And while Woolsey tended to agree, at least about that last part, he still wanted to know why she sounded so sure. “Exactly how do you know all this Major? Have you ever encountered any Ancients?”

Her expression was dead serious. “Ascended or non-ascended?”

Woolsey blinked in surprise.

Todd, meanwhile, wanted to hear her answer, “Non-ascended.”

Kate scowled. “The last non-ascended Ancient I met tried to strangle me after calling me, and I quote, “an inferior specimen lacking in insight and higher brain function”. Basically he compared me to a monkey.”

Woolsey stared at her. “When the hell was this?”

She shrugged. “About a year ago, right after I got sent to the SGC. When Loki kidnapped me, apparently I wasn’t the only one he was experimenting on. Somehow he’d found a frozen Ancient and defrosted him. He had the cell next to mine – we had a nice long conversation he and I and let me just say…” she turned to Todd, “…if his attitude was anything to go by I can see why you tried to wipe them out. Regardless of who started it.”

The wraith sneered. “Yes, they can be very vexing can they not?”

“You have no idea,” Kate grossed, “Or maybe you do. He told me I was only good for two things, fucking and breeding. If I’d’ve had my gun I would’ve shot him.”

She turned to Woolsey who was watching her with a silent look of horror painted across his face. “So tell me again how you find it hard to believe the all merciful Ancients might turn on their allies and, while they’re at it, rewrite the history books to make it look like they were the victims. Taking responsibility for their actions is _not_ something they’re good at.”

Woolsey didn’t have a response for her. Todd’s response was a menacing growl.

“Someone _said that_ to you?”

She nodded. “Word for word. He looked at me like I was a bug, something that needed to be squashed. It’s the same way most wraith look at most humans. I’m beginning to see where you got it.”

A low snarl rumbled up from the back of his throat, spilling forth threateningly. Unfortunately he could not, in good conscious, correct her. What she said was all very true which did not make him feel better. Todd could remember looking at many humans in the way she had just described which, in turn, made his inactive stomach roll with guilt. And what was worse, the look on Katherine’s face told him she knew it, she knew that he had treated others in the same manner with which the Lantean had treated her. He could not apologize to them, nor did he wish to. But he could apologize to her.

“Forgive me…”

Richard Woolsey damned neared choked on his tongue.

Katherine offered a small smile. “I know you’re sorry, I do. And I know you’re not the same as him so, why don’t we get back to the reason you’re here. You were telling us about how you’re old – what’s that got to do with me?”

Yellow eyes still blazing with resentful fury turned to Katherine and held. Todd was so focused on her all else was forgotten, including Woolsey. This suited him just fine as it gave him a chance to observe the pair in a way he hadn’t since first giving Kate her assignment. The only other time he’d been able to watch them interact had been during the McKay’s wedding and that’d just been strange. The wraith, or at least _this_ wraith, was not made for waltzing. It was one of the only times Atlantis’ director had ever seen Todd look so woefully out of depth. If it weren’t so strange it might’ve been funny.

“Quite a lot, actually,” Todd was explaining. “Not only was I there during the war, I played a significant part in it. It is not only my age that affords me position but also my breeding. My grandmotem – or grandmother as I believe is your term – was a queen before the war. She ruled Vallan, a great city, and when we were betrayed it was she who first united us and then led us to victory. She was our first and only High Queen and at the time of her death she had neither daughters nor granddaughters to whom to pass the title.  The position of authority therefore, in the absence of a female, falls to me. It is my duty to protect the wraith, whether they know they are in need of it or not. I cannot fail and I require your assistance to ensure I will succeed.”

Kate stared at him. “Your grandmother was the high queen?” She blinked, “You really are the King of wraith.”

A slow grin peeled back his lips, exposing several teeth. “You are not…completely wrong.”

She crossed her arms. “I’m not _wrong_ at all.  You may not have the title but you’ve certainly got the _‘it’s-all-on-me-if-I-don’t-do-it-nobody-else-will-it’s-my-job-to-save-them’_ complex down pat. You forget; I know how you feel, how you _really_ feel. This inherited whatever it is, it hangs around your neck like an albatross and yes I know you don’t understand the reference, I’ll get you the book. It’s not healthy. You can’t be expected to do it all by yourself.”

“And yet I have no choice,” he informed her, touched by her obvious concern. “There is no other for me to share this burden with, no other I trust to lead and to do what is necessary. No other wraith would have swallowed their pride and begged the assistance of a group of humans in order to do what must be done. My alliance with this city is not looked upon with favor by my fellow wraith. Their arrogance and pride would see us ended; extinct in but a few more generations if something is not done. We are already dying, so slowly most do not realize it is happening but I do. Whether it is agreeable for me or not I cannot sit by and do nothing. I must try.”

Kate blinked. “What do you need from me?”

His eyes held hers. “I would have your help.”

“What kind of help?”

“Your loyalty to start. Anything else I might desire we can discuss later.”

She understood. “You’re recruiting me. You want me to join your cause, to fight for you.”

“Essentially yes. You would make a very good ally.”

“I see. And what would you expect me to do?”

“Only what you are comfortable with. No more than your duties here.”

Kate raised an eyebrow. “Which are what, exactly? What is it you think I do?”

He cocked his head, dipping it towards her. “You are a skilled warrior but what is more, you are particularly skilled at retrieving difficult to acquire information.”

“You want me to spy for you?”

“Among other things.”

“ _What_ other things?”

He took a step forwards, coming up to her as though a predator might approach its prey. And while the glint in his eyes was most certainly hungry, it was not nourishment he wanted from her. It was something else entirely. “I want you…to fight for me…with the same ferocity and passion…with which you fought for the child.”

Her eyes widened. Raising a hand, Todd reached out and grasped her chin; lifting it upwards. He lowered his face towards hers, so close their breaths mingled. He let out a hiss when he felt her hands rest themselves on his waist. Another when he felt her fingers seize, almost as though she were pulling him closer.

“Ahem.”

Woolsey. Damn. Todd had forgotten him. Kate, on the other hand, couldn’t’ve been happier for the interruption. The way they were standing and the way he’d been looking at her, any longer and she might’ve done something stupid. Like kiss him. And wouldn’t _that_ have gone over well. Her brother, correction, brothers would’ve had heart attacks. What the hell was _wrong_ with her?

“Major Sheppard’s assignment was to learn about the wraith and while joining your cause will certainly do that, the decision is ultimately hers,” Woolsey explained. “I won’t force her into accepting just to appease the IOA.”

The ball in her court, Kate knew enough to realize that while Woolsey might not order her to take it, an opportunity like this might not come around again. If she agreed they could end up getting everything they’d ever wanted. If she said no – Kate didn’t see Todd just giving up. Most likely he’d try everything in his power to change her mind.

The thought gave her an idea. She turned to him, a peculiar gleam in her eye, “Persuade me.”

Behind his glasses Woolsey smirked.

Todd, on the other hand, frowned. Persuade her? Was that not what he had just done? “I do not understand. How –”

“When I was a kid, whenever my dad was entertaining a new client or investor, he’d go out of his way to play to their likes. If they liked football, he’d get ‘em season tickets to their favorite team. If their wife liked the opera, he’d offer them our private box. One time there was this businessman and dad really wanted him to invest in this project he was working on. The guy loved classic cars, fancied himself a collector. My dad bought him a red, vintage, nineteen fifty-seven Thunderbird convertible for his birthday and, a week later, the guy signed over half his income to finance the project. You see where I’m going with this?”

His eyes met hers. “You wish me to offer you something you want in return for your agreement.” A nod, “What is it you want?”

She smiled. “I want you to make me like you.”

Todd’s breath caught. Of course, of _course_ she would ask him for this. Katherine continued, at their every encounter, to argue that if he were more liked, the humans of Atlantis would be more willing to help him. His reply was always to counter that he did not need Atlantis to like him as long as they continued to comply. And now here she was, naming the one thing he refused to yield as her price. Stars curse her, if he were not so annoyed he would be impressed which begged the question –

“Just you? Or is the rest of Atlantis to be included in this exchange?”

“Just me,” Kate confirmed. “You do that and I’m yours.”

His. _His_. _Mine_. The words repeated themselves over and over again, filling him with anticipation and need. Yes, he wanted her to be his. _His_ ally. _His_ confidant. **_His_**. If he could convince her of his affability, his geniality, then Katherine would give herself to him. She would belong to him, she would be his. He would have her. Mine.

Of course Todd could not say this, he was a little concerned with how much excitement shuddered through him at the thought. The wraith were possessive by nature, him more so then some, and she was not his yet. He would first have to prove himself capable of being liked and Todd had not the slightest idea how to accomplish this. He did not know her well enough to be able to tell what characteristics she might find affable nor could it be said that he was particularly agreeable in the first place. Ten thousand years ago convincing a female to think favorably of him would have been easy. At present, it was insurmountably difficult.

And Katherine was human, not wraith. He sighed, “You are going to make this hard for me aren’t you?”

“Of course,” she grinned. “If I didn’t it wouldn’t be fun.”

“Your definition of that word and my definition of that word are not the same I think. You and your brother both -”

“All the things in life worth having are the ones worth fighting for. You want me, my loyalty doesn’t come cheap. If I can’t trust the person I’m working for then I’m no more than a hired-gun and hired-guns do what they’re told. They don’t fight tooth and nail to get something done.”

Todd hissed. “I thought you said I have your trust.” His eyes narrowed, “Or was that a lie?”

“I trust you in your capacity as our ally. As a commander, my boss or the leader of the wraith, I don’t know you well enough to trust you. And unless you let me know you, and I like what I see, that ain’t ever gonna happen. So that’s my deal. Take it or leave it.” 

His acceptance was not a question. Katherine had challenged him from their first introduction and he saw no reason why she should cease doing so anytime in the near future. In truth he did not want her to; in truth her constant defiance was something that appealed to him. She was unlike any human he had ever met and while he sometimes wished she were wraith, he was beginning to think it did not matter. Katherine was Katherine and he would rise to any challenge she prescribed.

“I will require access to her, unrestricted,” he said to Woolsey although his eyes did not leave hers. “I cannot possibly attempt to curry her favor if I am to be expelled from the city every time Sheppard decrees it.”

“I’m sure we can come up with a reason why you’ll have to stay, at least until the holiday’s over,” Woolsey said. “After that it’ll be a little more difficult to come up with a believable lie. Will two days be enough to at least get the ball rolling?”

“It should be. Beyond that…” he looked hard at the female standing before him “…I am confident we will see each other again.”

Woolsey nodded. “Very well, I’ll make the arrangements. If that’s all?”

Todd nodded and turned on his heel to leave trusting Katherine to follow soon after. She caught up with him on his way out of the control room, crossed in front of him and then stopped causing him to halt. He looked at her, “Is something the matter?”

She crossed her arms. “Not particularly except you’re going the wrong way.”

He hissed. “And where should I be going?”

She pointed behind him. “That way, towards the mess hall.”

Another hiss. “And what is in the mess hall?”

She smiled. “Food, more of that stuff I had you try yesterday. And David.”

“Who is David?”

“My brother well, my other brother. He’s the oldest. I want you to meet him.”

He frowned. He did not know if he wanted to make the acquaintance of yet another Sheppard. The two he knew of already were troublesome enough although in entirely different ways. “Why?”

“Because it’ll make me happy and you want to make me happy. You’re courting me remember?”

Todd sighed. “Very well.”

Smiling, Kate reached for his shoulders and then spun him around whereupon she pushed him towards the nearest transporter. They exited in the hallway just outside the mess and started walking forwards. They’d made it about ten steps before Kate ran into something that felt a lot like a wall. When she looked, she couldn’t see anything. She took a step and promptly bounced off something invisible and solid.

“Okay, what the ever loving hell!?!”

At her shoulder, Todd shifted closer in order to get a better look at the unseen barrier. Reaching out, he lay a hand on the invisible wall and felt it vibrate beneath his palm. He was about to comment when he felt something behind him. Backing up, he realized a second wall had erected itself behind them. Then, in the next moment, two more appeared on either side of them effectively boxing them in.

“Do you suppose the city is malfunctioning?” he inquired, trying to reposition himself so as to give Katherine more space. Confined as they were, they were almost on top of one another. “Perhaps we should call -”

“Oh shit!”

They turned around or at least, they tried to. Todd’s elbow struck the barrier as did Kate’s left foot. Shifting positions, Todd stayed where he was allowing her to press back into him in order to get around him. When she finally managed it she found herself looking at the shocked faces of Major Lorne, Captain Ryan and Laura Cadman.

“What the hell is going on!?!” she demanded.

Ryan, who had frozen, apparently with an apple halfway to his mouth, glared reproachfully at the creature behind her as though, somehow, this was his fault. “What’s he doing here? I thought after he talked to Woolsey he was gonna leave.”

Kate scowled at him. “Yes, well, he decided to stay. His hive’s too far away and I’ve talked him in to sticking around to see what all the fuss is about. Call it a cultural exchange. Now somebody tell me what the hell is going on! Lorne! Explain, now.”

The major didn’t look particularly happy to have been singled out. “Ah…well, actually, the colonel kinda set a trap -”

“ _John_ did this!?!” she asked for clarification. All three of them nodded. “Why?”

Cadman pointed towards the ceiling. “Look up.”

Eyes narrowed, Kate tilted her head up towards the ceiling. When she saw the plant hanging oh so innocently above her tied with a red bow she felt her insides start to sizzle. “I’m. Going. To. _Kill_. Him.”

Todd was confused. “It is a plant. I fail to see -”

“It’s fucking mistletoe!” Kate screeched, rounding on him. It was a miracle she didn’t fall down. Of course that would’ve been hard to do considering their arrangement. And the fact that turning around meant she was literally toe to toe with Todd. A few more inches and they’d be recreating the scene in Woolsey’s office. All he had to do was bow his head.

“I still do not see -”

“According to tradition, if two people get caught under the mistletoe they have to kiss,” Cadman explained.

Todd’s eyes went wide as Katherine turned back around, presenting him with her back. Unfortunately that did not help him. The damage had been done; the image of Katherine pressing her lips to his would not leave his mind. He suddenly wanted very much to know what they felt like. He imagined they would be soft, supple and yielding…

“Like I said,” Kate reiterated. “When I get outta here, I’m sooo gonna –”

The sound of voices cut her off, pulling her – and everyone else’s – attention to the end of the hall where both John and David Sheppard suddenly appeared around the corner. The brothers were, apparently, deep in discussion and hadn’t seen her. Kate planned on fixing that.

“YOU!!!!” she shrieked.

As one, both men froze; their eyes flying forwards to find their sister, furious, standing in the middle of the hallway. John’s first thought was one of triumph. His plan had worked. His triumph lasted the entire two seconds it took his brain to process who was standing behind her.

“Oh fuck....”

David, meanwhile, was too busy having a mild panic attack to saying anything. He’d seen pictures; he knew what the wraith looked like. _This_ wraith however, who was a whole head taller than Kate, loomed over her like some dark, avenging shadow. He was literally the scariest thing the eldest Sheppard had ever seen in his life and seeing him _that_ close to his baby sister, to his Katie Beth; David was finding it difficult to breathe.

John was having trouble breathing too but for an entirely different reason. His difficultly came in not being able to find the damned remote so he could shut the containment shield off. Searching all his pockets, he finally found it in the back left pocket of his jeans – not where he remembered leaving it. With haste he pressed the button, heaving sigh of relief when the barriers came down.

And then he had to duck as Ryan’s apple was abruptly snatched out of his hand and thrown by a very angry Kate directly at his head. He managed to duck but it was a near miss. The apple sailed over his head, hit the wall behind him and promptly became applesauce.

John held up his hands. “Now Katie Beth -”

She fumed. “Don’t you dare Katie Beth me you fucking asshole. I’ve told you, I’ve told you a thousand times! This shit’s not funny!!!”

“It’s just some mistletoe. It’s not a big deal.”

Her glaring intensified. David wisely chose not to say anything. In fact, he started edging away from John hoping the distance might save him from his sister’s ire. He’d told John this was a bad idea. He’d told him she’d likely try and hurt him but, like always, his brother hadn’t listened.

“She’ll be fine. With any luck, she’ll get stuck with Lorne,” he’d insisted. “I bet she doesn’t even get mad.”

John’s estimation was off. David could practically see her anger, white hot and pulsating, coming off of her in waves. John’d be lucky if he wasn’t shot.

And while the thought did cross her mind, Kate suddenly had a much better idea for revenge. “You want me to kiss someone?” she asked, her voice mocking. “Fine, I’ll kiss someone.” Then, before anyone could so much as blink, she spun around, grabbed Todd by the collar of his coat, yanked him down and then angled her mouth over his eliciting quite a few startled yelps from those around her.

Time stopped and while she’d meant it to only be a quick kiss, that’s not exactly how things turned out. For starters, Todd gasped in surprise the minute her lips touched his which, while not exactly a five star invitation, is what her brain took it as. Her tongue darted forwards gently probing the inside of this mouth until she felt his own rise up to meet her. Whether he did this out of surprise or because he knew what to do was a mystery. All she knew is that when she withdrew, Todd’s eyes were closed and he had a look on his face that was equal parts astonishment and pleasure.

And then they opened and he was staring at her, yellow eyes darkened to amber. Kate swallowed and thought that maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea. He was looking at her with an expression that was all too easy to interpret.

Lust.

Reality came crashing back to her as John exploded. “KATHERINE ELIZABETH SHEPPARD – WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING!!!?!?!?!!”

Letting go of Todd, Kate turned to face the middle Sheppard. “Kissing someone,” she explained, as though it were obvious. As though she _hadn’t_ just traumatized her brothers by locking lips with a ten thousand year old, life sucking alien. “Isn’t that what you wanted? You’ve only been trying to trick me into doing it for like the past twelve years –”

“Someone!” John yelled, face molting, eyes threating to pop right out of his head. “Not Todd!!”

Her eyes narrowed. “He doesn’t count as someone?”

_“No!!!”_

“Well too bad, he was my choice and actually, as far as kisses go, it wasn’t that bad. The teeth are kinda a problem, very sharp. I think I nicked my tongue.”

John turned purple. “Your _tongue_!?!? You put your tongue in his mouth!?!”

She nodded.

His eyes crossed. “I’m gonna kill -”

“If you touch him, I’ll kiss him again. I’m sure with enough practice we can get around the teeth.”

The colonel clamped his mouth shut. He was seething.

Satisfied, Kate turned her attention to David. “I trust you had nothing to do with this?”

Her eldest brother shook his head vigorously, just a tiny bit afraid. It was a well-known fact that Katie Sheppard was an unholy terror when angry, and that was before she’d been turned into a super soldier. Now, David could only imagine the type of damage she might cause if she felt so inclined. Burning buildings and a city wide evacuation were the first things that came to mind.

She smiled, it was a dangerous smile. It made her look like serial killer. “Good. Then I forgive you for not stopping Tweedle-dee over here from doing it anyway. I was on my way to see you but now I think I could use a drink so, ta.” Spinning on her heel she grabbed Todd – who hadn’t moved since she’d let go – and dragged him back to the transporter leaving everyone else staring after them.

Half a minute ticked by and then Cadman let out a low whistle. “Man. And I thought my kiss with Beckett while in McKay’s body was epic. I think Kate wins.”

The colonel rounded on her. “You think this is funny?” he demanded, gesturing wildly in the direction Kate and Todd had disappeared. “She just French kissed a fucking wraith!!”

Laura shrugged. “You backed her into a corner and she retaliated. Not what I would’ve done but eh, to each their own. It’s kinda your own fault Sir, really. You’re the one that set the trap.”

“She’s got point,” David agreed. “I _told_ you this was a bad idea.”

John glared at him. “Shouldn’t you be a bit more upset? Our sister just kissed a wraith!!”

“Our sister is twenty-eight years old, not fifteen. She’s a grown woman and she can kiss whoever she wants.”

“He’s Todd!!”

“Which is why he picked him,” David explained. “She knew he’d piss you off the most.”

“But he –”

“You’ve been acting paranoid for weeks now,” Lorne said, “Ever since the whole wraith-human compatibility thing. You act like Todd’s gonna rape her or something every time he gets near her. I think we both know he’s not gonna hurt her. He fucking held her for an hour after her kid died!”

The colonel scowled. David blinked. “Her what now?”

“It’s long story,” John told him. “I’ll tell you later.”

“You’d better,” his brother said. “Now, if you’re done throwing a temper tantrum, we can finish the tour. You were gonna introduce me to your friend Rodney right?”

“What about Kate?”

David sighed. “Let her cool down for a while, then we can go find her. Until then…”

Taking the hint, John motioned for David to follow him as the two brothers headed off down the hallway. Ryan and Lorne headed towards the mess hall while Cadman decided to go in search of Vega. She wanted to know more about Todd and Kate. 

~xXx~

According to the city’s schematics, the rooms that made up the new rec-room had originally been someone’s apartment. An odd kind of polygonal shape, the downstairs had been fitted with a bar, big screen TV’s, a couple pool and air-hockey tables, several couches, some tables and about half a dozen secluded booths. The upstairs was modeled more like a club with a space for dancing, a balcony and dozens of those little tables everyone was always standing around. Wisely Kate decided to keep Todd downstairs and after procuring them drinks, of the hot buttered rum variety, led him over to one of the more secluded tables to sit. 

She felt she owed him an explanation. “I’m sorry I kissed you...”

Immediately Todd found himself disappointed. “Are you?”

Kate winced. “Lemme rephrase that. I’m sorry I used you to get back at my brother.”

“I am not,” Todd said truthfully. “The wraith do not kiss. It was…a pleasurable experience.”

“Glad you liked it.” Her mouth twitched, “My first kiss was horrible.”

Todd eyed her, his expression begging an explanation. She didn’t give him one. Instead, she nodded towards the mug between his hands, asking him how he liked it.

“It is…palatable,” he replied slowly, carefully. “Different. I am used to drinks made with wine but this…this is stronger.”

Kate nodded. “It’s rum, good rum which is like fifty percent alcohol. Drink it by itself and it packs a punch.”

The idea was not particularly appetizing. “I cannot imagine that tastes good.”

She shrugged. “Most of the time if you’re drinking straight liquor you’re doing it to get drunk not because it tastes good. Of course taste helps, makes it easier to go down, but it’s not a requirement.”

“Are you speaking from experience?”

Kate snorted. “Not as much experience as I’d like. One of the perks of being a super solider – getting plastered takes a hell of a lot.”

“I can imagine.”

They fell quiet, a companionable silence opening between them stretching outwards. Neither spoke for several minutes because neither had to. They were comfortable just sitting there being near one another. A good place to be considering most of their interactions. It was nice to be able to just be.

A loud noise followed by a rain of footsteps pulled them both from their thoughts towards the door where Ronon, Teyla, Amelia Banks, Jennifer, Vega and Cadman had just arrived. The group of six was laughing and talking, carrying a familiar rectangle box when they stopped and realized the rec-room was already occupied.

“Hey Kate,” Jennifer smiled then, a little more stiffly, “Todd.”

“Doctor,” he returned.

Vega held up the box. “We were ah, gonna start up a game of Monopoly if you wanted to join.” Her gaze flicked left, “He can play too.”

Kate frowned. “I thought we were playing poker?”

“That’s later,” Laura explained. “Right now it’s Monopoly so are you in or out?”

Oh what the hell. “Sure.” She looked to Todd, “You coming?”

He frowned. The thought of playing a table game with a group of humans, most of whom he either did not care for or did not know, did not sound particularly enjoyable. Fortunately he had an excuse, “I do not know how to play.”

“Nice try,” Kate said. “You’re not getting out of this that easy. Come on, let’s go.”

The wraith sighed. “Do I not have a choice?”

She shook her head, smirking. “Not if you want me to like you.”

Todd growled. “Fine.”

Kate grinned while the others all looked genuinely surprised. Obviously they hadn’t expected him to agree. “Well alright then,” said Cadman, taking the box from Vega so she could begin setting it up on a nearby table. “We’ll play teams. Vega with me, Banks with Ronon, Teyla with the doc and then Kate and Todd. We’ll roll the dice to see who goes first – everybody pick a piece and grab a chair.”

With eight of them playing one table wasn’t big enough so to compensate they put four tables together in order to make one big square. Then, with the board in the middle, the teams each picked a side and settled down to play. The first few rounds were practice so Todd could get the hang of it. He caught on quick and somewhere in the middle of the tenth roll a bottle of Smirnoff and a bowl of chex-mix appeared along with some orange juice and eight tumblers. Vega seemed to be in charge of mixing drinks and when she added twice the amount of vodka to Kate and Todd’s, Kate wanted to know why.

“Because you’re a super soldier and he’s wraith,” she explained, “Gotta even the playing field.”

With a smirk Kate accepted the glass, throwing her head back and downing it in a single gulp before handing it back to Vega for a refill. Alicia obliged, snickering, while passing one off to Todd as well. The wraith took his and looked at Katherine, noting the gleam of challenge in her eyes daring him to do the same. Without a word of protest Todd tipped his head back and then handed her the empty glass.

“Oh hell yes!” Vega whooped, turning to Cadman. “Hey, go get some shot glasses. I’ve got an idea.”

Her idea, as it turned out, was to take a shot every time it was your turn to roll and while everyone else was game, Todd was hesitant. It was not his goal to drink to excess and it was only after Kate explained that going along with this would make him more likable – although Todd could not understand why – that he agreed. The face he made after taking his first shot of straight vodka had the entire table in stitches. When it came time for his second shot, Todd made a noticeable grimace before lifting the glass to his lips. Once he’d swallowed Kate tried calming him by telling it’d get easier the more he drank.

Deciding he did not wish to go through such an unpleasant experience a third time, Todd had an idea to expedite the process. After requesting the bottle he then proceeded to empty it before returning it to Captain Vega. His efforts earned him a cheer from the entire table but what is more, the next time he was required to take a shot, the concoction he forced himself to drink did not taste nearly as offensive.

Then Cadman had challenged Kate to match him and, to the surprise of all, she had. Now two bottles in the game continued. They’d been playing for over two hours and were a little more than halfway through the game by the time Sheppard and Lorne came to check on them.  

“Evan!” Jennifer cried, smiling cheerily at the major, “Hi!”

Stopping behind the doctor, Lorne looked around the table and smirked. “Well ya’ll look like you’re having fun.”

Sheppard, meanwhile, was focused on Todd. “What the hell are you doing here?” he wanted to know.

“Losing,” Cadman told him, chortling gleefully. “Spectacularly I might add. He and Kate are in dead last.”

The colonel frowned. Vega, with a straight face, turned to him and said, “The dice don’t like him,” and then promptly began giggling.

Lorne raised an eyebrow. “How much have ya’ll had to drink?”

Ronon shrugged. “A few rounds, not a lot. Kate and Todd though...” he looked behind him.

Following his gaze to a nearby table stacked with empty bottles, Lorne and Sheppard felt their eyes go wide.

“How the hell are ya’ll still breathing!?!” Lorne exclaimed, eyeing the two of them disbelievingly as though expecting them to drop dead of alcohol poisoning at any second.  Instead they just stared back at him, identical expressions of _‘what’re you looking at?’_ written across both their faces. Lorne shook his head, now that was creepy.

Jennifer raised her hand, bouncing in her seat excitedly.  “Ooh, I can answer that! It’s because Kate’s a super-solider. The NC26 serum speeds up normal liver function so it takes nearly triple the amount of alcohol a normal person would need to ingest before she starts to feel any effects.”

“And Todd’s wraith,” Banks explained. “He doesn’t get drunk.”

The wraith in question shook his head. “That is not true. If I were to continue to imbibe excessively – ”

“More than half that’s yours,” the technician reminded him, gesturing towards the bottles. “You practically chugged an entire bottle of vodka in like, a minute because you didn’t like the taste and Kate said that the more you drink the better it gets. And afterwards – you’re _still_ sober!”

“Not completely,” argued Todd, ignoring the shocked expression on Sheppard’s face and Major Lorne mouthing _‘a whole bottle!?!’_ in order to prove his point. “I believe I am beginning to feel the effects from my consumption –”

“What’s the square root of two hundred eighty-nine times five divided by two?”

“Forty-two point five. I do not understand – ”

“If you can still do complicated math in your head you’ve obviously not had enough to drink,” Kate explained. She handed him her glass, “Here, drink this.”

Without hesitation, and much to the surprise of both newcomers, Todd took it and drained it before it back to Katherine.

Sheppard stared at him. Ronon tossed him the dice. “Your roll.”

Still staring, stuck in a total state of disbelief (and beginning to feel like he really was in an episode of _‘The Twilight Zone’_ ), John watched the wraith take the die and expertly roll them across the board like it was something he did every day. When they stopped moving, both cubes had landed on one; snake eyes.

Todd growled.

Cadman shot him a roguish grin. “Guess who’s going back to jail!?”

Todd growled again, fists clenching in agitation as Katherine reached out to move their thimble across the board. “This game is very inconsistent.”

The wraith wasn’t the only one who thought so. Games of chance weren’t really Ronon’s thing. “Wanna try poker?”

“Please.”

John Sheppard’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Meanwhile, Banks and Vega had started packing up the board while Ronon left to go get the cards and chips. By the time he got back more bottles had appeared along with two more chairs and a plate of hot wings. When Kate asked her brother if he and Lorne were gonna play John agreed more out of curiosity then because he really felt like playing. In his opinion, Todd was acting weird – he’d been acting weird ever since he showed up. And he was sitting way _too_ close to Kate; their shoulders were practically touching. David might’ve talked him into accepting responsibility for the kiss but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still worried Todd might try something. Thinking she was hot was one thing, holding her for an hour while she cried while playing with her hair was something else.

“So what’re we playing? Five card draw or Texas hold’em…”

Like last time, the first few rounds were practice and, like last time, Todd caught on quickly. In thirty minutes he’d amassed quite a pile of chips so that when Vega suddenly ran out, she decided to bet her left shoe. As the game continued, Todd continued to win more often then he lost so that by the time they’d been playing for an hour or so Vega, Cadman, Banks and Lorne were all missing shoes and in Cadman’s case, both her socks.

“I was not aware that one could bet using articles of clothing,” Todd commented whirly, glancing aside to Katherine whose pile of chips was nearly as large as his. “I do not remember that being a part of the rules.”

“It’s part of the rules in strip poker,” Kate replied, fingering her jack of diamonds. She had two aces and a pair of kings; did she really wanna get rid of her jack?

“Strip poker?”

“It’s exactly what it sounds like,” she told him, deciding to keep the jack. “Just go with it.”

Heeding her advice, Todd went with it and lost two hands later. Since it seemed the humans had unanimously decided, and neglected to tell him, that chips were no longer something with which you could bet, Todd was told he had to take his coat off.

He decided he didn’t like this game. “I refuse –”

“Just take your damned coat off!” Kate scolded him, “It’s how the game’s played and it’s not like it’s the only thing you’ve got – you’re wearing like three layers.”

His eyes narrowed. “It is the principal of the matter. I will not participate -”

“Take it off or I’ll take it off for you!!”

Todd stared at her. Vega started laughing. “She wants you to get undressed. I’d stop arguing if I were you.”

Sheppard put his head down on the table. “I’m not drunk enough for this,” he groaned, “Somebody pass me the rum.”

“Can’t sir,” Lorne told him. “The rum’s gone.”

John’s head came up, he looked positively dismayed. “Why’s the rum gone!?!”

“Cause Todd drank it,” said Banks the gate technician, turning to the wraith in question who was currently in a staring match with the colonel’s sister. “Now take off your damned coat before Kate climbs on top of you and does it herself. No wait, actually don’t – that I’d pay to see!”

Todd glared at her, relatively positive the humans were making fun of him. The wraith were not a modest race and, personally, Todd had no problem’s displaying himself in his natural state. The humans, however, were modest and so nudity, or sometimes even the pretense of it, was often a point of ridicule. He would not allow himself to be made sport of.

Kate, on the other hand, was annoyed. He’d been doing so well. “Look,” she said, pulling his attention back to her, “Half the people at this table are missing something – Vega just lost her shirt. You can afford to lose your coat, it’s not like there’s not there’s not another layer of leather on under there anyway. It’s the rules. You lost; you forfeit an article of clothing. That’s the game.”

The wraith hissed. “I do not remember agreeing to play this game. I agreed –”

“Oh for the love of God just do it!” Kate screamed. “This is why nobody likes you. You can never just _do_ something; you always turn everything into an argument!!”

And while the table at large held their breath, Todd contemplated what she had said and came to the conclusion that she was not wrong. The humans were obviously not attempting to deride him, or trick him. Katherine was correct, of the seven humans surrounding him five of them were short various articles of clothing. He was apparently being difficult for the sake of a contrived notion which had been proven invalid. And in result Katherine was displeased with him which was the very opposite of what he wanted her to be. He sighed and reluctantly began unhooking the fasteners on his battlecoat.

Triumphantly, Kate smiled while the others collectively let out their breaths. When Todd was done and the heavy leather coat had been draped over the back of his chair, Vega let out a disgruntled squeak of protest at the sight of what was underneath.

“How many layers of leather are you wrapped in!?!”

“Just the two,” Kate told her, suddenly regretting the fact that Jennifer and Teyla had gone to bed. They were the only two people who could otherwise confirm exactly what Todd’s clothing consisted of. “He loses another round and we’ll actually see skin.”

“So lose,” Cadman instructed, causally rearranging her cards. “I’m curious.”

“Me too,” admitted Banks, eyes trained on Todd.

Vega nodded vigorously. “Oh yeah. I think we all are.”

Kate snickered; the wraith in question looked surprised.

John looked sick. “I’m not.”

Ronon and Lorne agreed.

Cadman shot them all a look of rebuttal. “Oh hush, you men don’t count. Raise your hand if you’re curious about what wraith look like without their clothes?”

As one, Banks, Kate, Cadman and Vega all raised their hands. Confused, Todd cooked his head and looked to Katherine; silently asking why her hand was in the air when she had seen more of him then anyone at the table.

The grin she offered was just short of being a proposition. “I’ve yet to see you out of your pants.”

Todd’s eyes darkened to amber. Kate’s brother announced, “And you’re never gonna. Now take your cards and get your head back in the game. Whoever’s turn it is call. Lorne, I think it’s yours…”

An hour later Colonel Sheppard was down to boxers and boots while Lorne had lost everything except his boots and, because he’d begged and pleaded after losing twice in a row, had been allowed to put his boxers back on. Cadman and Banks were in their underwear, all Ronon had left were his pants, Vega and Kate had managed to keep their undershirts and their boots but had lost everything else while and Todd, who’d only lost twice, had forfeited his undercoat and left bracer. They’d also managed to knock out another four bottles of _Grey Goose_ three of which had been split evenly between Todd and Kate. At long last both the super soldier and the wraith had finally caught up with everybody else, a fact which the rest of the table took full advantage off when the two of them lost their last hand spectacularly.

“Alright missy,” Vega said, fixing Kate with a look since her partner is loosersville had already dutifully removed his other bracer, “Time for that shirt to go.”

“I vote the bra,” Cadman suggested, waggling her eyebrows.

Lorne grinned. “And I vote both.”

Colonel Shepard sent him a bleary eyed death glare. “That’s my sister major,” he cautioned. “Show a little –”

“No offense Sir but your sister’s hot.”

John glared at him. Vega was nodding, “I’d do her.”

Todd’s eyes widened. Kate sent her an apologetic frown, “Sorry honey, I don’t swing that way.”

The captain pouted. “Damn.”

With a good natured grin, Kate stood up and bean pulling her shirt over her head. It got stuck and in her inebriated state Kate thought this was hilariously funny. “Fuck, I can’t get -”

“Would you like some assistance?” Todd offered, watching her struggle with a predatory grin.

Shepard’s face turned white. “Oh no! You are not helping my sister take off her -”

In the middle of his protest, Kate sat down on Todd’s lap and let the wraith finish pulling the garment over her head. Now able to see, Kate held her breath as she looked back at him, his nose barely an inch away from her face. Their eyes locked, amber to grey, and for a minute neither of them moved.

Then the lights went out.

“Okay, what the fuck!?” Vega complained, “What happened to the lights?”

Wondering if maybe a breaker got blown, Lorne tried standing only to trip on one of the table legs. “Shit!”

“I would advise nobody to move,” suggested Todd, hands instinctively wrapped around Katherine’s waist to prevent her from attempting to flee his lap.

Sheppard glared in the direction of his voice. “Since when are you in charge?”

“Since he can see in the fucking dark!” Kate replied, a shiver running down her spine at the feel of Todd’s fingers gripping the bare skin of her sides. She raised her hands and reached out, feeling along his chest until she reached his shoulders. “You can see can’t you?”

“Only very slightly,” he replied, suddenly very glad for the oppressing darkness. Katherine had shifted her position in order to get a better perchance and in doing so, his body had started to react. He was suddenly very glad Colonel Sheppard could not see him.

“Perhaps we should -”

“Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne, somebody. Do you copy?”

John reached for his radio, cracking his head on the table in the process as he stooped to retrieve it from his pants. “Fuck, shit that hurt. This is Sheppard. Woolsey, what’s going on?”

“Are you alright colonel?” came the reply.

“I’m fine, just hit my head. The lights are out. Would somebody please tell me – ”

“The whole city’s gone dark. We don’t know what’s going on. I’ve contacted Dr. McKay and he’s on his way. Can you make it to the control room?”

“Yeah, I’m on my way.” John turned his radio off, “There should be some flashlights behind the bar. Somebody go get one, everyone else get dressed.”

Since Todd was the only one who could actually see, it was unanimously decided he should go get the flashlights. When he came back, they were switched on and evenly distributed around the table providing enough light to at least sorta see what they were all doing. The idea that there was something wrong with the city was a sobering thought but not sobering enough to undo nearly five hours of continuous drinking.  Coordination and patience were two things in very short supply so getting fully dressed was out of the question. Grabbing shoes, pants and shirts the eight of them trooped out of the rec-room towards the stairs leading up to the control tower. When they got there they were greeted by Mr. Woolsey, a pajama clad McKay, Chuck the gate technician and a very worried looking David Sheppard.

“What the hell happened to you!?” Rodney shouted.

“Strip poker,” Lorne replied, assuming the question to be aimed at their various stages of undress.

The physicist blinked, round eyes flying to Todd whose bare arms he’d never seen before. “Todd too!?!”

“Yeah, Todd too.” Vega sighed, “There was drinking involved, lots of drinking. We have no more rum.”

Woolsey raised an eyebrow. “The rum’s gone?” The eight of them nodded, “Why’s the rum gone?”

“Because…because…” Banks turned to Todd, “What’s forty-five, divided by seventeen, times three divided by twelve?”

The wraith’s face adopted a look of concentration while everybody looked at him, awaiting an answer. It took him nearly two minutes. “Zero point six, six, two.”

Amelia turned to Woolsey. “That’s why.”

The director of Atlantis was stunned. Unfortunately he didn’t have time to dwell on it. “Never mind. If we could all please focus, power is down across the city; even the backup generators. WE need to figure out what happened and, more importantly, how to fix it.”

Vega raised her hand. “Has anyone plugged anything in recently?”

Woolsey shook his head. “Not that I’m aware of.” He turned to Rodney, “Doctor?”

McKay shook his head.

Lorne eyed him. “Have you messed with any settings recently?”

He looked offended. “Hey! That last quarantine wasn’t my fault. At least nobody got - ”

“Rodney!” John groaned, a headache starting to form. “Just answer the damned question!”

McKay deflated. “Ah no, I haven’t touched anything since – ”

“So, bottom line, we don’t know what caused this?”

Todd turned to Mr. Woolsey. “If power can be restored to the city’s main systems, perhaps with one of your portable generators, we could run a diagnostic in order to discover what caused the shutdown.”

Grinning, Kate looked at him and ended up leaning against his side. “See, even drunk he’s got good ideas.”

“Yes well, in the meantime, we’ve got another problem,” David explained. Everybody looked at him. He nodded towards the balcony, “No power means no heat, it’s below freezing outside. If we don’t get the power turned back on soon – ”

“We’ll freeze to death,” Woolsey finished, pinching the bridge of his nose. Why couldn’t anything ever be simple? He glanced at Todd, “I don’t suppose you have any other brilliant ideas?”

The wraith nodded. “The gate-ships reply on their own individual power supply’s rather than the city’s, even when docked.  Atlantis has three shuttle bays – ”

“Two,” Kate said, “One of them’s under water.”

“Two then,” Todd continued. “You could gather the population and distribute it between the jumpers. They may be uncomfortable, so many bodies crammed into so few ships, but at least they will not freeze.”

Ronon grunted. “That’s a good idea.”

McKay let out a whimper.

“What?”

The scientist looked at the former runner. “You just agreed with Todd. I think that’s a pretty good sign we’re all about to die.”

Cadman growled at him. “Shut up McKay, we’re not going to die – we’re all going to be just fine!”

He glared at her. “When did you get back!?”

“Yesterday,” she snapped. “Try and keep up Dr. Wack-a-doo. Don’t you listen to your wife?”

Rodney’s face turned red. Vega and Kate started giggling.

Mr. Woolsey cleared his throat. Instantly everyone sobered.  He turned to Sheppard, “What’s the plan Colonel?”

John sighed. “I guess the plan is to get everyone to a jumper. Our radios run on batteries so we’ll stay in contact. Meanwhile me, Rodney and Todd’ll head down to the main drive core and see if we can’t figure out what the hell happened.”

“Why me?” asked Todd, “I hardly think it will require both myself and Dr. McKay in order to – ”

“You’re going because it was your idea and because, before the lights went out, I had to watch you take my sister’s shirt off!”

The wraith hissed.

David’s eyes went wide. “Say what now?”

“He’s being dramatic, it’s not as bad as it sounds,” Kate assured him. “My shirt got stuck and Todd helped. That’s it.”

“No that’s not it!” John protested, “You were in his lap and earlier today you shoved your tongue down his -”

“Black-out, city wide emergency, freezing temperatures!” Kate yelled, “You can lecture me later.”

With a growl, her brother fell silent, waited a minute, and then began issuing orders. Since they were kinda racing against the clock it was decided some haste might be necessary. While John, Rodney and Todd went off to find a naquadah generator the rest of them began knocking on doors, gathering up the city’s occupants and directing them to either the north or east jumper bays. The temperature was dropping fast and time was of the essence.

There wasn’t a moment to loose.

~xXx~

Atlantis’ main power core was located on the city’s lowest level, at the very base of the control tower. By the time the three of them made it down all one-hundred and twelve flights of stairs Todd was sober, John was halfway there and Rodney was wheezing and out of breath from carrying the naquadah generator.

“I still don’t see why I had to carry it, why couldn’t you’ve – ”

“Trust me Rodney, you needed the exercise. Your wife’ll thank me.”

“She won’t thank you if I pass out an die from over exert – ”

“You’re not gonna die you big pansy. If anything you’ll just – ”

“Be silent both of you! I have had enough of your bickering and your – ”

“Well somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”

“I did not wake up in bed at all. I have not slept in three days – ”

“And whose fault is that?”

Todd growled.

“Here, hold this,” said Rodney, fostering off the generator to the wraith as they entered the core room. Immediately he went to the terminal which controlled power distribution and pried the panel off. “Now, I just need…”

 An hour and a half later, he found the problem. “This doesn’t make any sense. According to this the city thinks there’s some kind of outbreak, like a plague. Somebody recalibrated the sensors to be pick up variances in DNA and because we all have different DNA – ”

“The city shut its self down in order to contain the outbreak,” Todd concluded. “You are correct. This makes very little – ”

“Um, actually…” Sheppard muttered, “It sorta, kinda makes perfect sense…”

They looked at him.

He sighed. “I set a trap for my sister and in order to distinguish her from everybody else I kinda reworked the scanners – ”

“ _You_ did this!?” Rodney was skeptical, “How, you can’t even use _Word_!?!”

John looked sheepish. “I ah…I sorta have a masters in computer programming.”

His friend stared at him. “You’ve got a what!?!”

The colonel shrugged. “I’ve got a master’s degree in computer programing. I’ve got one in engineering too. It’s in my file; I’m surprised you haven’t –”

Rodney glared at him, looking betrayed, before turning back to the terminal.

John sighed. “So how do we fix this?”

“The easiest solution would be to return to the control room and perform a full systems restore in order to effectively erase the changes you made. It is a relatively easy process and should no more then – ”

The ground shook, cutting Todd off mid-sentence. The shaking didn’t last long but it was followed by a strange sound, like an echo. Whatever it was it didn’t sound good.

“Oh Lord, now what?” John groaned, hurrying for the door. They were on the ground floor of the tower and there was a row of windows to his immediate left. Rushing to them, the colonel looked out over the city, or at least the parts of it he could see. What he saw reflected in the moonlight made his heart skip and his pulse quicken.

“Oh fuck!”

He raced back to the core room. “We’ve got a problem,” he said. “The city’s sinking, it’s the Titanic effect. Rodney grab the generator we’ve gotta go.”

McKay, however, didn’t move.

“It does no good to linger Doctor,” Todd tried, “We gain nothing by – ”

“Jennifer.”

John frowned at him. “What!?”

Rodney looked to him, horror written all across his face. “She’s in the east jumper bay. If the city floods – ”

Understanding his concern, Todd knew also what needed to be done. “I will go and warn them. Perhaps we can relocate them to higher ground.”

Sheppard studied him. “Why you?” he demanded, “Maybe I should go – ”

“You are the reason we are in this predicament, it is therefore your responsibility to see it resolved. Besides, I am faster than you and can cover more ground more quickly. We do not have time to waste on your pride.”

Todd was right. Damn. “Fine, go; warn the others. If there’s time come back. We might need you.”

With a nod, Todd turned and disappeared into the darkness, weaving his way through the empty corridors of the city in pursuit of his destination. He was perhaps three quarters of the way there when the back of his mind began to prickle with the encroaching awareness of others. Wraith. He stopped, senses scrying as he tried to understand the appearance of wraith where before there were none. A cautionary probe at the nearest mind sent him reeling. They were elders, like him, and that made them dangerous. The city shook again, this time listing ever so slightly to the right, throwing him off balance as he hit a wall. Regaining his footing, Todd redoubled his efforts and took off at a dead sprint towards the jumper bay.

He arrived ahead of the others whom he could sense were heading this way. He was greeted by Katherine and a worried Teyla whose eyes told him she sensed them too.

“Wraith.”

“What?” Kate frowned, looking first at Teyla clutching Torren and then to Todd. “What’s going on?”

“The city is sinking,” Todd told her, taking her by the arm as he approached Woolsey and some of the others he was most used to dealing with. Katherine’s eldest brother hovered in the background, looking concerned. “And, what is more, I can feel the presence of wraith.”

Woolsey’s eyes widened. “What!?! Wraith? How is that possible?”

Todd shook his head. “I cannot explain it. I only know that I can feel their minds and they are coming this way. We must evacuate, move to higher ground.”

“There’s no time,” Teyla instead, coming to join them. She gave her son to Ronon and went to stand besides Todd. “There are too many people here. We would never be able to evacuate them all before –”

“Then you must give the order for them to seal themselves inside their jumpers and remain there until we can be sure the danger has past,” Todd said, turning to Woolsey. “It is the only way.”

The director frowned. “And what’re you going to do?”

“What I must,” the wraith replied. “These wraith, their minds are familiar to me, similar to my own. They are from my time, older and more dangerous than the younger generations you are used to dealing with. I still do not understand – ”

“Prisoners of war,” said Kate. “Think about it, that’s gotta be it.”

Vega, who had joined the conversation with Woolsey, nodded. “Yeah. I mean, if Janus can have a secret lab nobody knows about what’re to say Atlantis hasn’t got a secret brig stashed away somewhere. There’re whole parts of the city we’ve never even been in. And stasis pods don’t show up on scanners.”

Ronon grunted. “It’s possible.”

Todd hissed. “Be that as it may we do not have a lot of time. You must retreat to your jumpers while I remain. It is possible I might be able to talk to them, avoid unnecessary bloodshed.”

“Alone?” Kate frowned, “What if they won’t listen to you or, what if they don’t recognize you?”

“Even if they do not recognize me I can still provide a better defense then you. ”

“You’re not doing this alone.”

Todd growled, willing her to understand that this time was different from all the others. _This_ time, “I do not have time to argue with you. Get to a jumper.”

Kate crossed her arms and stood her ground. “No.”

A menacing snarl echoing through the darkness followed by another and another effectively ended their argument as Woolsey gave the order for everyone to lock their back hatch. Together Todd and Kate turned to face the oncoming threat, the former tossing a glare at the later.

“Stubborn female.”

Kate stuck her tongue out at him before the first wraith materialized out of the darkness. Seconds later another appeared and then another. The three wraith looked ragged, starved and unkempt giving weight to her idea about them being prisoners of war. She also noticed they were big, as tall as Todd and just as wide. Kate swallowed; whatever was about to happen, it wasn’t gonna be fun.

The wraith growled, closing ranks, eyes darting from the human female to the male wraith standing beside her. There was a familiarity to him, a presence, but in their starved minds none of them could be bothered with it. All they knew was that if he was here, standing against them in this city, then he was an enemy. With a roar of fury the three of them attacked.

Todd ducked the initial swing aimed at his head, barely missing the talons that would have shredded his face had he been but a moment slower. It would seem persuasion was out of the question as Todd found himself embroiled in combat the likes of which he had not had in quite some time. Two against one the, the third assailant having gone after Katherine. A glance to her proved that she seemed to be faring well or as was to be expected. Todd’s attention returned to his own battle as he managed to first distract and then deal a damaging blow to his second attacker.

The wraith screamed in pain, stumbling backwards just enough to give Todd a clear shot at his neck. Reaching out, he placed both hands on either side of his opponents head; snapping his neck as though it were nothing. Letting the body fall, he turned to face the other and growled.

Kate, meanwhile, was beginning to tire. The cold combined with her less than optimal situation made it difficult to perform with her usual level of skill. To add insult to injury, the city had tilted again, listing back to the left, throwing her off balance. She hit the floor on her side, bruising her hip and shoulder, before she was able to roll away from her attacker. It wasn’t enough; he was on top of her in minutes, grabbing her wrists as he pressed himself down on her, crushing her with his greater weight. Kate growled, gritting her teeth against the pain and her sudden inability to breath. He was sitting on her chest, forcing the air out of her lungs while making it impossible to take in more. She was suffocating when she felt something wet touch her hair. Twisting, she saw water leaking in through the jumper bay doors.

Well damn, that wasn’t good.

Without warning she found herself flipped onto her stomach, hands held behind her back, face pressed into the floor which was slowly beginning to fill with water. She struggled, twisting first left then right, anything to get free. As the water level began to rise, Kate took as deep a breath as she was able and forced her body to go still in order to preserve air. Drowning had so not been on her list of things to do today.

From the corner of his eye, Todd watched Katherine crease her struggles against her capture. Worried, he turned, a growl ripping through him at the sight of her opponent on top of her, holding down. With a snarl he spun towards his attacker, catching him by his hair as he dragged him backwards, throwing him down into the rising salt water before reaching out to remove his head from his shoulders. A spray of blood, thick and hot, splattered his face; coating his skin and hair. Todd could care less as he let the body fall, amber eyes already trained on his next victim. Measured steps took him to Katherine’s side and within an instant he had her attacker by the throat, hauling him off her. The wraith screamed, clawing at the hands that held his neck, squeezing until he had barely any air left.

“You, traitor…”

Todd’s reply was a warning growl before the wraith, like his predecessor, found himself decapitated. 

Kate sputtered, pushing herself up, gasping for breath as she pushed hair from her eyes; blinking from the sting of the salt. She felt a hand at her shoulder and instinctively pushing away, falling back. She was cold and wet and still couldn’t catch her breath. Where was the wraith, where –

“Katherine, calm; it is alright,” a voice said, she vague recognized it as Todd. “You are safe now, calm. You are safe.”

Her vision cleared and, widely, she turned to look at the wraith holding her. He was covered in blood. “Todd?”

He nodded, handing gripping her arms just a bit tighter; afraid she might try and pull away again.

She frowned. “What happened? Where’re the – ”

“Dead, all of them dead. Katherine,” he urged her, “You must get up.”

Shakily she nodded, allowing him to more or less pull her to her feet. Once she was standing, she realized the water was now up to her knees which was why she was so cold. She was soaked.

“I’m fucking fr-freezing,” she stammered, her teeth chattering. “And y-you…I d-don’t know h-how you can st-stand being in this w-water.”

“It helps that I have not been submerged long,” Todd told her, pulling her against him in an effort to stop her shivering. She settled against his chest without protest and allowed him to wrap and arm around her for support. With his other he raised her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye.

“Are you unharmed?”

She shook her head, feeling his fingers drop away as he released her chin. The next thing Kate knew Todd had picked her up and was carrying her up the stairs, away from the rising water. The second level was dry but no less cold so, after Todd put her down, she immediately walked to the nearest jumper and knocked on the back door. The hatch lowered and Kate basked in the sudden warmth like a cat in the freaking sun. Todd appeared beside her, hovering at her shoulder as he too took a moment to warm himself. Then he turned to her.

“There are more wraith still in the city. I can feel them; they are heading towards the control tower. Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay are attempting to restore power as we speak. I must go – ”

“Not by yourself you’re not,” Kate said, catching him by the arm. “I can’t let you – ”

“You are still cold and barely survived your last encounter! Please, Katherine, do not fight me. Please just do as I ask.”

She shook her head. “I can’t. John’s my brother and I…I’m not good at doing nothing. Either I go with you or I wait till you leave and follow you, either way. I’m not staying here.”

Todd sighed. Stars she was stubborn, so stubborn. Her sense of duty was as strong as his. She could not stay because she felt it her task to protect not only her brother but the people of this city. Todd would rather have her stay with him where he could keep an eye on her then have her go off on her own and possibly get killed.

He would regret it if she died. He was not done with her yet. “Very well. But stay with me, we must move quickly.”

With a nod, Kate stepped away from the jumper and then allowed him to take her hand so he could guide her through the darkened corridors of the city. With Todd in the lead the two of them vanished into the shadows leaving behind about eighty very shocked people who had seen and heard everything.

“That was…”Cadman had no idea how to describe what had happened. She didn’t even know where to start.

“He cares about her. Todd,” Ronon turned to Woolsey, the only one who didn’t seem surprised, “He cares about Kate.”

The director nodded.

“How is that possible?” Teyla asked. “I know he is not unfeeling but that level of concern…they have not known each other nearly long enough to support – ”

“They might’ve only met each other like, five months ago, but a shit ton of stuffs happened since then,” Vega explained. “She’s challenged him since the day they met and you saw her, she refused to back down. If that’s not enough to get his motor running I don’t know what is.”

Ronon growled. “So we’re supporting this now, we’re not gonna do anything?” He glanced at the others, Woolsey looked speculative, “He’s a wraith.”

“A wraith that just killed three of his own in order to protect us and her,” Woolsey reminded him. “He’s also a wraith whose gone through extraordinary lengths in order to secure Major Sheppard’s allegiance, most of which I’m not at liberty to discuss. Suffice to say I don’t think we can continue to lump Todd in with most wraith.”

The Setedan scowled. No matter how true it was that didn’t mean he had to like it. “So we’re just gonna let him do whatever? What if he decides he wants her, as more than just an ally? What then? You still gonna just let him –”

“As it ever occurred to you that having Todd invest himself in Major Sheppard might be to our advantage? The simple fact that he cares about her, in whatever way, gives us power over him. If that concern were to grow, don’t you think it might prove easier to get him to go what we want instead of the other way around?”

Vega made a face. “And are you plannin’ on letting Kate in on this plan or are you gonna play ‘em both?”

Woolsey shook his head. “I’m not planning on playing either one of them. What I’m planning on is to let everything play out and then sees where it goes. If, in doing so, we gain an advantage then all the better for us. If we don’t; there’s no harm in letting him care about her.”

“And if Kate ends up returning his attentions, what then?” Teyla wondered, “Would you encourage her?”

“I doubt it’ll come to that,” Woolsey said, frowning. “Somehow I don’t think Todd’s exactly Kate’s type.”

“You hope he isn’t,” Vega mumbled, staring off in the direction the two of them had left in. “Seems to me you’ve got a lot riding on something you might not be able to control.”

And while the captain had a point, Woolsey choose not to concern himself with it just now because there really wasn’t anything that needed concern. Right now it was all just guessing, speculation and a little bit of wistful thinking. Having Todd wrapped around their proverbial fingers would be a nice change to the wraith having them wrapped around his. And right now, the rewards outweighed the risks. If that changed then Woolsey might revise his strategy but for now, he wasn’t going to do anything. The better move was to sit back and allow nature to runs its course.

Only time would tell if they could use the situation to their advantage.

~xXx~

In the control room, John was impatiently holding onto a flashlight as Rodney typed away at the city’s controls, attempting to restore power after he’d restored the system.

It was not going well.

“Hurry up, Rodney.” Sheppard was impatient. It was cold, he was miserably and it’d been like two hours already. He turned his gaze to the windows, “The water’s over the piers.  The lower levels are gonna start to flood any minute now.”

“I’m going as fast as I can!” the scientist growled. “And can you _please_ hold the flashlight steady!?!”

John groaned and readjusting the light so that it highlighted the whole computer screen and not just half of it.

“Thank you,” Rodney snipped before giving a great yelp of joy. “Ha! I think I’ve it!”

Sheppard looked back at him. “That’s great,” he said, shivering. “How long before you -”

A dark, menacing growl interrupted him mid-sentence and, as one, both he and Rodney looked first at each other and then wildly out into the control room. “That doesn’t sound good,” John muttered, stepping forwards so he could aim his flashlight down into the gate-room below. At first he didn’t see anything but then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something move.

A wraith, not Todd, followed by two more. And they looked pissed.

“HOLY SHIT!” he yelled, backing up until he damned near tripped over Rodney. How the hell did three wraith get into the city? Scratch that, he didn’t care. All he cared about was getting rid of them and getting the power turned back on.

Face pale and eyes wide, Rodney demanded to know what was going on.

“Wraith, three of them. I don’t know how they got in and I right now I don’t care. Work faster!”

Diving back underneath the console, Rodney began typing furiously as Sheppard opened fire raining bullets down on the three wraith who, with the advantage of being able to see, managed to duck. One of the wraith broke ranks and started to advance – he made it as far as the DHD before Sheppard finally put him down.

“Hurry the fuck up Rodney!” John yelled, firing blindly into the dark in the hopes of actually hitting something. And angry hiss told him he’d at least hit one.

“Where’s Todd when you need him?” he muttered to himself, pausing to listen for any possible sign he might’ve killed another one. “I mean, seriously…”

Apparently speaking of the devil made him appear because a second later Todd was there along with a very wet Kate. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Jumper bay flooded ran into a bit of a problem.”

“Wraith?”

She nodded, nodding towards the gate-room. “How many are there?”

“Two.”

She looked at Todd. “Shall we?”

He nodded. Behind them, Rodney hit a key and the emergency lights switched on; power returning to the city’s main functions. The gate-room was suddenly bathed in a soft, blue light – illuminating the two remaining wraith below. They appeared startled, yellow eyes widening as they beheld Todd standing amongst the humans. The shorter of the two sneered while the other, slightly taller and angrier looking, glared at him.

“Lord Commander.”

Todd hissed. “You recognize me.”

The wraith nodded. “It is strange to behold you in the Lantean city so soon after having been captured. Once would almost think you have betrayed us.”

“The war is over, it has been over for ten thousand years. This city, those that now inhabit it are human not Lantean. I know you are confused but you must listen to me – ”

“Lies!” the wraith screamed. “I should have expected treachery from you, high born. You are like all the rest, playing games with those beneath you. I will have your head!”

He attacked, going for Todd’s throat as though he were a demon possessed. The elder ducked, dodging left as the second wraith broke from his hiding place and attacked Sheppard, perceiving him to be the more dangerous threat. He was surprised when the female blocked him, slamming her fist into his face with enough force to break his nose. He fell backwards, stumbling away from her as she readied herself for another assault. This time he was ready and caught her fist before it could land. He thought he had her, until she twisted around and swiped his legs out from under him. He was forced to let go of her with an angry hiss.

Before he could retaliate, Kate descended upon him and snapped his neck; turning her attention towards Todd who was very busy apparently getting his ass kicked.  The wraith he was fighting was mean and angry, a dangerous combination if ever there was one. He wasn’t just fighting Todd, he was trying to kill them and as the two of them went round for round, Kate suddenly had an idea.

“Hold him!” she called, scrambling back up to the control room, “Todd, hold him. I’ve got an idea!”

With a hiss of frustration, Todd did his best to comply. Kate, meanwhile, ignored her brother and McKay and went straight to the DHD. Hurriedly she began to dial. As the gate activated she yelled down, “Todd, DOWN!”

At Katherine’s order, Todd dropped into a crouch away from the other wraith just as the vortex of the event horizon _wooshked_ over his head; catching his adversary before he had time to get out of the way. As the wormhole settled into it’s usual, placid puddle, Todd stood and looked up, locking eyes with the female looking down. He smiled at her, nodding his head in thanks for her assistance.

A moment later, the lights came on.

“Oh thank God!” John groaned, looking around to McKay who looked about as wiped out as he felt. “Now we can - ”

The city rumbled, rising as the generators that kept it afloat turned back on. Heat began wafting down from Atlantis air vents as Todd climbed the stairs back up to the control room and stood beside Katherine.

John rounded on both of them. “Now, explain to me, where the hell did those wraith come from?”

“Near as we can tell, they’ve been here the whole time,” explained Kate, rubbing her hands over her arms to warm them. Now that the adrenaline from the fight was gone, she was cold again. Being wet didn’t help matters. “POWs. We think they’ve been in stasis or something.”

Her brother frowned. “Well isn’t that just great. So the next time this happens - ”

“So long as you don’t try and trick me into kissing anybody again this should be the last time.” Kate glared at him, on their way from the jumper bay Todd’d told her what’d happened. “Right John?”

Sighing heavily, John nodded. “Yeah…I promise I won’t make you kiss anybody again…”

His sister smiled at him.

Rodney yawned. “Well, I don’t know about you guys but I’m going to bed.”

“Bed sounds nice,” John agreed.

“I need a shower first,” Kate said. “It’ll warm me up and I need to wash the sea water outta my hair.”

“Sounds like a plan.” With a mishceivious smile, Sheppard turned to Todd. “You need to go bed to Mr. I haven’t slept in three days. Tomorrow’s a big day.”

The wraith frowned. “Why?”

John grinned. “It’s Christmas and, since you’re here, you get to get up with the rest of us an open presents.”

Todd groaned. “Must I?”

Shepard nodded. “Oh yes, you must.”

Kate patted his arm. “There, there. It won’t be so bad. Just think, one more day and then you won’t have to put up with him anymore.”

Happy with the thought, Todd followed the others and went to bed.

 ~xXx~

When morning came Todd was abruptly woken by the alarm Katherine had shown him how to set the night before. Getting up, he dressed himself before exiting his room to fine his favorite human female waiting for him out in the hallway. Her hair was in soft waves and she was wearing those same dark blue pants from yesterday along with a red sweater that read _‘Define Naughty?’_. He raised a brow-ridge at her.

She snorted. “I’ll explain later,” she told him and then led him off down the hallway. She took him to the room they had played games in the night before, weaving through the various groups of humans until she came upon her brothers, Lorne, Vega, Cadman, Jennifer and the rest of Sheppard’s team. Settling onto the couch, she pulled him down next to her and then told John they were here and could get started.

Todd watched in impartial curiosity was the humans passed various packages wrapped in brightly colored paper back and forth to each other until everyone had gathered quite the trove of unusual objects. Then, while the others were occupied, Katherine pulled him up and walked a little ways away before turning to him an presenting him with one last brightly colored rectangle.

He blinked at her. “What is this?”

“A present,” Kate explained, watching him take it. He looked surprised. “The best way to learn about something is to experience it so…”

Admittedly intrigued, the wraith carefully peeled back the paper to find a small, leather bound book. His eyes narrowed, frowning in confusion as he read the title, “Pride and Prejudice.”

Kate smiled. “It’s one of my favorites and it’s a good story. It’s a romance but I think you’ll like it. Darcy reminds me a lot of you.”

“Then I shall look forwards to reading it,” he said quietly, dipping his head in order to meet her eyes. “Perhaps, next time we meet, we can discuss it.”

Still smiling, Kate opened her mouth to reply only to have Cadman cut her off with a command to look upwards. Lifting her head, she let her eyes drift upwards to see a familiar sprig of green clinging innocently to the ceiling above their heads.

Her gaze dropped back Todd’s. “I think once wasn’t enough don’t you?”

“A pity,” the wraith frowned, pleasure dancing in the depths of his yellow eyes; teasing her. “Perhaps next year.”

“I’ll hold you to it,” Kate said, chuckling to herself as she returned to the others leaving Todd where he stood, watching her through hooded eyes.

A sly grin began to play with the corners of his mouth, twisting them upwards until a good number of teeth were showing. Perhaps this Christmas the humans insisted on celebrating was not so terrible after all.


	8. Unsaid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Colonel Sheppard contracts an illness that gains him the abilities to read minds, he decides to put it to good use on Todd hoping to learn what the wraith really thinks about his sister. But, as always, things don't exactly turn out the way they were intended...

**Episode VIII: Unsaid**

Trading missions, in general, weren’t fun according to John. There was the haggling, he hated haggling, and Rodney’s tendency to put his foot in his mouth, Teyla usually did most of the talking and Ronon was pretty much just there to look intimidating. He didn’t even actually have to do much other than nod and smile but still, overall, he just wasn’t a fan. It was an unfortunate necessity – even with PSI funding Woolsey insisted they barter for whatever food they could get now the IOA no longer cared what was on their menu. Without Storm’s ridiculous restrictions Atlantis was free to resume normal operations and trading missions were on top of the list. Trading helped commerce, commerce helped build relationships and relationships helped everybody stay alive. So here they were, back to negotiating for things like fruits, vegetables, milk, flour, eggs and whatever meat Atlantis’ chefs could turn into something edible. So far, their favorite thing to experiment with was this blue, Komodo dragon looking thing about the size of a cow. Seriously, you could ride the thing and it tasted kinda like a cross between chicken and pork. Thanks to David the city now had two five star chefs on retainer who John was convinced could made an old shoe taste good.

They also had a pastry chef. The man was a former navy seal who, after being medically discharged, had been hired by PSI to run security. John had no idea how it’d happened but somehow the guy wound up making cakes and pies instead of running background checks. It was an ongoing source of amusement.

“So that went well,” Rodney said, pulling the colonel from his thoughts, “A hell of a lot better than last time.”

"That's because you kept your mouth shut this time," said Ronon. “Didn’t know you had it in you.”

Rodney glared at him. “Oh ha-ha. It’s not my fault the Fastions backed out of our agreement.”

“You insulted their deity,” Teyla reminded him, recalling the instance with annoyance. As much as she cared for him there were times she truly wished her teammate had just slightly more social grace. Being bound to Jennifer seemed to help but not significantly. Maybe he would improve with time.

"I did not," Rodney defended, "I merely pointed out the very slim chance that their deity even existed. I mean, what kind of idiots worship an old wooden plow that someone probably left in the middle of a field?"

“I don’t know McKay,” Sheppard eyed him, waving a hand in his face as some kind of flying insect buzzed past him, “That sounds like an insult to me.”

The scientist was up in arms, ready to protest when John felt something like a pin-prick against his neck. Muttering a curse, he slapped at it; grinning in satisfaction when he drew his hand back and saw a black smear across his palm. “Ha! Got you, ya little bastard!”

His teammates stopped walking and turned back, their faces mirroring concern. He held up his hand, “I killed a bug.”

The colonel’s dislike for anything that flew and had more than four legs was well known – all three of them rolled their eyes indulgently before dialing Atlantis and stepping through the gate.

Woolsey was waiting for him on the other side along with Captain Ryan decked out in some serious heavy armor.

“Where’s the fire?” John asked, looking the captain up and down, “And where’d you get the armor?”

“It’s Twelve’s,” Ryan replied, adjusting his arm guards, they were just a tad loose, “On loan from the SGC. It’s fuckin’ sweet right?”

Sheppard raised an eyebrow. “Why do you need it?”

“I’ve been invited to meet with the Coalition to discuss a possible alliance,” Woolsey explained, “I decided to take backup.”

Remembering last time, John wholeheartedly agreed. “’S probably a good idea.”

Teyla seemed less sure. “Are you certain you should be doing this?” she questioned, recalling their last two encounters with the coalition council. They had not ended pleasantly. “The Coalition has made it very clear, on numerous occasions, they have no wish to cooperate and they’ve made no secret their desire to take Atlantis from us. I fear they are leading you into a trap.”

Having known as much when he’d received the invitation, Woolsey nodded. “I know. Unfortunately it’s a chance we have to take. The Coalition is gaining strength; more and more planets are looking to them for protection. It’s imperative we know what they’re doing.”

“So what happens if you get taken prisoner like last time?” Ronon asked, no more happy with this then Teyla. Woolsey didn’t usually take risks; he was an administrator not a solider. Responding well to dangerous situations wasn’t his strong suit. “You got a back-up plan?”

“Both the captain and myself have had subspace transmitters implanted in our arms. The meeting’s set to take place at a secondary, unknown location – I’ve been told it may take several days. That said, if we’re not back in seventy-two hours –”

“I’ll send in the calvary.” Sheppard sighed, “Guess this means I’m in charge.”

Woolsey smiled wanly; as unhappy to be leaving the city as the colonel was in being left in charge of it. If at all possible he liked to avoid off world travel but, since their return, the need for him to do so had risen dramatically. He supposed he should be thankful; as much as he had had to leave Atlantis in the past year he had yet had to set foot on a hive.

Thank God Todd always came to them.

“Try not to burn her down while I’m gone.”

“No promises,” Sheppard smiled, crossing his arms as the director gave Chuck the signal to dial the gate before turning to walk through the event horizon. Ryan followed, smirking as he gave the colonel an informal salute before he too vanished. The gate closed, John turned to the rest of his team.

“We’ll debrief once Woolsey gets back. In the meantime, I’m gonna go grab a shower and then I’ll be in my office. If anyone needs anything, go bother Lorne.”

Rodney frowned. “But…you’re in charge.”

John sighed. “Yes, I’m in charge and because I’m in charge I’ve got stuff to do. I don’t have time deal with your bullshit or anyone else’s, got it? Just, go back to your lab and try not to blow anything up.”

Offended, Rodney started to protest but stopped when Sheppard gave him a look. He wasn’t having it, whenever Woolsey left it seemed John got stuck with a never ending flow of stupid complaints – like everyone thought he’d handle everything better than Woolsey. It was easy when it was the military, when it was the military he could just pull rank and tell whoever it was to suck it up and deal with it. But with civilians he actually had to sit there and listen which was, according to his ex-wife, something he’d never been good at. Hopefully, since it was only three days, nothing terrible would happen and he’d be able to get by with minimal casualties.

Sighing, he started to walk away.

“Are you alright?” Teyla called after him, concerned, stopping him before he could retreat. “You seem…agitated.”

He turned back. “I’m fine,” he assured her, scratching absentmindedly at his neck where that damned bug had bit him. It already itched like hell. “Really, I’m just tired and I’ve got a lot of stuff to do. I’ll catch up with you all at dinner.”

Then, before she could reply he turned back around and trotted towards his quarters where he jumped in the shower, used up all his hot water and then took his time getting dressed. He was tempted to just stay in his room, maybe put on a movie but, like he’d told Teyla, he had a shit-ton of paperwork to get to. Contrary to popular belief he didn’t make Lorne do everything only to scrawl his signature at the bottom of the page. And while, at times, he wished the rumors were true John actually spent an exuberant amount of time sitting at his desk when he wasn’t on missions. Filing reports was easy; it was the performance reviews, recommendations, disciplinary actions, transfer requests and scheduling that was a bitch.

Sometime he wished he had a secretary.

“Hey colonel, got a minute?”

He looked up; Vega and Lorne were standing in his doorway. He sighed, so much for getting his work done. “Yeah, sure; what’s up?”

Sinking into one of the chairs in front of the colonel’s desk, Lorne quickly explained, “Got a couple requests for transfers.”

John released another sigh; eyes zeroing in on the captain who’d taken up residence on the corner of his desk instead of one of the other chairs. “Lemme guess, Teldy said no again?”

She nodded, scowling. “I’ve gotta get off that team Sir. It’s not…if I don’t get out I’m gonna do something I’ll regret like telling the major exactly where she can shove her all men-are-dogs-pro-women fucking bullshit.”

Colonel Sheppard tried his best to hold in a grin. “And you Major?”

Lorne made a face. “I want Strauss off my team.”

John’s eyebrows rose. “Six months ago you wouldn’t _let_ me trade him, now you’re saying you want him gone?”

He frowned. “Yeah, well, six months ago he didn’t have a problem with Kate.”

Vega snorted. “Yeah he did, he’s had a problem with her since she got here.”

“Maybe so, but he’s been mostly unvocal about it ‘til recently,” Lorne explained. “Last time out, Kate gave him an order and he flat out refused, told her she could go fuck herself. I don’t care what his problem is so long as he’s quiet about it, but that – that shit don’t fly. I want him gone.”

John groaned. Kate, of course it had to be Kate. Why couldn’t the lieutenant have a problem with someone else, someone he could actually reprimand him for disrespecting. When it came to disciplinary actions involving his sister his hands were tied. “What do you want me to do? I can’t charge him; I can’t write him up – what exactly am I supposed to do about this major?”

Vega grinned. “There’s a reason we both came to you at the same time,” she told him. “Lorne wants Strauss off his team and I want off of Teldy’s. Ya see where I’m going with this?”

“I’ve got a disturbing idea I do.” Sheppard blinked, “So, lemme get this straight. You wanna put a guy who’s got a problem with women on a team under the command of a bra-burning, feminist who thinks all men are the devil?”

The pair of them nodded.

John couldn’t believe they actually thought this was a good idea. “Are you nuts!?!”

His outburst did nothing whatsoever to dissuade them, instead Vega smirked.  “But see, that’s the beauty of it. You can totally write it off as therapeutic or some bullshit. You know, learning to work with people you oppose or whatever trumped up shit’ll make it believable.”

John stared at her. Logically, from that angle, their scheme actually made sense. Lord knows _he’d_ been forced to work with people _he_ didn’t like. Just look at Todd. The minute hell, the _second_ the wraith was no longer useful Sheppard fully planned on putting a bullet right between his eyes. And that’s if he didn’t castrate him first.

Vega’s plan wasn’t actually so far off. “You’re evil you know that? I worry about you.”

The captain grinned.

Shaking his head he turned to Lorne, studying the major thoughtfully. “You sure you want her?”

He shrugged. “Yeah sure, I’ll take her. While we’re at it, can I have Cadman too?”

“What about Ryan?”

“Give him his own team,” Lorne suggested, giving voice to an idea he’d been musing on for quite a while. “He’s experienced, capable – give him some of the new guys off the Daedalus and let him show ‘em the ropes.”

It was a good idea. The captain certainly had the leadership skills and experience necessary to help break in the new recruits. Sheppard’d been racking his brain trying to come up with a plan on what to do with them all. Before Christmas he’d had just sixty people to deal with now, he had close to two hundred. He couldn’t just make new teams, they had to be with somebody who had a familiarity with Atlantis and any threats they might come across. Captain Ryan certainly fit the bill.

There was only one problem. “You realize if I approve this your team’ll have two majors and two captains right? That’s an awful high concentration of officers.”

“S’no different than your team really,” Lorne countered. “Ronon’s rank, from what he’s told us, is about the same as yours, Teyla’s an ambassador and a leader for her people and McKay’s the head of the science department.”

“He’s got a point,” Vega agreed, throwing in her two cents. Not that it mattered but at least on this, Sheppard really didn’t have a leg to stand on.

John sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I know.” Then, having reached a decision, he sighed again. “Alright, I’ll start the paperwork. You sure you want all three of them? Vega, Cadman _and_ Kate? That’s like, the unholy trinity right there.”

The Major smirked while beside him, still perched on the edge of the colonel’s desk, Vega preened. “Aw, gee colonel – I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

Rolling his eyes Sheppard turned to Lorne. “A month from now, when they all decide to gang up on you just remember, you asked for this. Congratulations Major, they’re all yours.”

Still grinning, Lorne thanked him before grabbing his new teammate, dragging her off the colonel’s desk, and then disappearing out into the hallway. Watching them go, John waited until he could no longer see or hear them before turning back to his files. He looked at the clock: it was seven thirty. Briefly he contemplated skipping dinner but knew he’d get one hell of a lecture if he did. Teyla was usually nice about it, gently reminding him he was no good to anybody if he didn’t take care of himself.

His sister was just a brat.

Deciding he could always come back to it later, he closed the file he’d been working on, pushed in his chair and then headed towards the mess hall hoping there’d still be food left and that somebody had thought to leave him some dessert…

~xXx~

John slept poorly and woke in a horrible mood two hours before his alarm went off. Since getting back to sleep was out of the question he reluctantly dragged his ass out of bed and went for a run, hoping the exercise would clear his head of the headache he seemed to have contracted sometime during the night. It didn’t work so after a long, blistering hot shower he got dressed and then headed down to breakfast.

It didn’t take long to realize there was something wrong.

It started with the buzzing. As he walked through the halls he could’ve sworn he heard something buzzing, like there was a mosquito in his ear, but every time he checked there was nothing. Then, once he got to the mess hall, the buzzing changed into this muffled, whispering type sound that just wouldn’t go away. He was so distracted he didn’t even notice someone was talking to him until he heard the clatter of a tray being set down across from him.

He jumped. “What?”

Lorne frowned, brow furrowing in concern. “You okay Sir?”

“I’m…fine.” Blinking, he shook his head in an attempt to clear it. It was only a partial success; the whispers were gone but the buzzing remained.

“Bullshit,” chimed a new voice, this one distinctly female, from somewhere beside him. “You look like death warmed over.”

Eyes sliding to his left the colonel immediately recognized the strawberry blonde hair and hazel eyes of Laura Cadman. “I didn’t sleep well,” he defended.

She nodded in sympathy, reaching for her fork after setting her tray down next to his. Normally Sheppard ate meals with his team but lately, at least since she’d gotten here, she’d noticed him mixing it up a little. He still primarily socialized with his teammates but now his sister was here, he also spent a lot of time with her and her friends. It was nice to be able to talk to him outside of giving a report or some other official reason.

Several minutes passed by in which the three of them ate in silence before Cadman heard Sheppard ask, “Hey, have either of you two seen my sister? Normally she’s up by now.”

“She’s off worl’ wiff Johnson’s team,” explained Lorne around a mouthful of eggs and English muffin, “They’re checking out a lead, it’s possible it could be Michael. Johnson asked for her.”

Although how much his request had to do with Michael was debatable.

John frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Confusion took over as Lorne’s face shifted to mirror the colonel’s look of befuddlement. “What do I mean about what?”

Sheppard’s frown deepened, “You said he asked for her for some other reason than because he thinks it might be Michael.”

“No I didn’t.”

“Yes you did, I heard you,” John insisted, irritated. Why was Lorne denying it? Did he think he cared? Well obviously he did, a little. Kate was his sister, if someone was asking her to go on missions for some other reason than as added protection then he needed to know about it.

Even if he couldn’t _do_ anything.

“Major –”

“He didn’t say anything,” Cadman interrupted. “Really Sir. The last thing he said was that Johnson asked for her. That’s it, there was nothing after.”

“But –”

Concerned, Laura twisted in her chair until she was looking directly at him. “Colonel, you’re starting to worry me. If you’re hearing things –”

“I’m not hearing things! I’m fine, nothing’s wrong. Everything’s perfectly normal.”

Yeah right, thought Lorne as he crossed his arms and studied the man sitting across from him. He’d said he hadn’t gotten much sleep, maybe that was what this was. Maybe…

John’s eyes flashed towards the major just in time to hear Lorne stop mind sentence only, his lips hadn’t been moving. He’d heard his voice, heard him say ‘yeah right’ and then something about how his lack of sleep might be the cause of all this only, the entre time, Lorne’s mouth had remained closed.

What the hell was going on? Why was he hearing things when it was obvious nobody was talking? Sheppard was sure he wasn’t going crazy; he _had_ heard Lorne say that Johnson’s reason for asking Kate to go along might not have anything to do with Michael. But if the major’s mouth hadn’t moved when he was speaking did that mean…

With dawning clarity John realized what was happening. Lorne hadn’t said it, he’d thought it. Something was horribly and unmistakably wrong. Very, very wrong. He needed to go to the infirmary, talk to Jennifer. He needed…

“Colonel?”

Cadman’s voice, her actual real voice not her mental one, woke him from his thoughts; clueing him in to the concerned looks on both her and Lorne’s faces. Whatever was happening, John didn’t want anyone to know. Not because he didn’t think he should tell anyone but because there was a part of him that still hoped he was just abnormally tired.

“I’m fine,” he said at length, trying his best to convince them everything really was okay. If only that were true. “Really, I’m fine, just…just tired. Like I said, I didn’t get much sleep – haven’t really been sleeping well all week actually. I’m…everything’s swell.”

“Swell?” Cadman echoed, managing somehow to sound both worried and condescending. “I didn’t think anybody used that word anymore.”

His eyes narrowed. “I’ll have you know ‘swell’ is a perfectly good word it’s just a little…okay yeah, you’re right, it sucks.  But really, I’m fine.”

Whatever you say Colonel, Cadman thought inwardly, not quite sure she believed him. She didn’t wanna push it though, not just because he was her commanding officer but also because Colonel Sheppard wasn’t exactly the poster child for telling people what was wrong with him. He could be bleeding and have broken bones in several places and still maintain that he was ‘fine’. One of these days she was tempted to tell him that ‘fine’ really stood for fucked up, insecure, neurotic and emotional all of which fit the colonel to a damned T.

Except maybe the emotional part.

John, meanwhile, had become very interested in his coffee. Taking a sip, he wanted to tell her he wasn’t any of those things, but decided against it because doing so would only confirm he actually _could_ hear what people were thinking.  He was starting to get a little freaked out, convinced something horrible was going to happen and that any minute now the other shoe was going to drop and he was gonna die. Maybe he was just tired; maybe it’d go away on its own. Unwilling to say anything, he sat there drinking his coffee, listening to Cadman and Lorne banter back and forth until the former brought up Todd and asked if Kate was making any progress.

Suddenly his ability to read minds took a back seat to his wanting to know what the hell was going on between his sister and Todd. It was a conspiracy but Lorne _always_ knew more than he did.

“She’s making headway, learned some pretty interesting things,” said the major. “According to Todd, the Ancients started the war.”

Both Cadman and Sheppard looked surprised. “Really?”

He nodded. “Yeah apparently he was there, led the siege that sank Atlantis in the first place.”

“He _led_ it?” John queried, trying in vain to digest this new information. He’d known Todd was old, ancient even, but old enough to’ve actually participated in the war wasn’t something he’d ever considered. “Whataya mean he _led_ it?”

“It’s exactly how it sounds,” Lorne explained. “Kate said his official rank during the war was like Lord Commander or something. Todd told her and Woolsey his grandmother was the queen, as in the _only_ queen for a pretty long while. Until she was killed and the whole each hive has a queen, no more female wraith thing was started.”

Cadman blinked. “So, if that’s the case, does that mean Todd’s some kind of wraith royalty or something?”

The major nodded. “That’s exactly what it means. Kate said she called him the king of wraith and Todd didn’t correct her.”

John slumped back in his chair. Of all the things they could’ve possibly found out about their wraith ally this wasn’t something he’d been expecting. They’d known he had power, lots of it, both before and after his incarceration by the Genii, but this; for him to have this kind of legacy, didn’t bode well for them. Absolute power corrupted absolutely and Todd was apparently used to having it – John was so sick of playing straight into his hands, dancing like a puppet to Todd’s tune every time the wraith pulled his strings. And the worst part, something he’d become increasingly aware of the past few months, was that Todd _wanted_ something from Kate. Whatever it was wasn’t something he could get from the rest of them. Whatever it was, he could only get it from her. John was worried, beyond worried really. Kate was his baby sister and here she was playing what amounted to a blind game of chess with someone who had years more experience than she did. He’d give anything, literally anything, to know what the hell was running through Todd’s head; what he hoped to gain by toying with her. Whatever he wanted, John knew it wasn’t good.

Which gave him an idea. It was a crazy idea, certifiably insane and absolutely nuts, but by this point he was a little low on options. Woolsey wouldn’t tell him more than the basics, Lorne’s hands were tied and asking Kate what the hell was going on only ever earned him a roll of her eyes. And asking Todd was out of the question. Even if he answered John had a hunch it’d either be a lie or, at best, only a partial truth. Honesty wasn’t really his strong suit and secrecy seemed to be the name of the game for everybody else. He understood the need to play things close to the vest but Kate was his sister, he needed to know; especially now. That kiss she’d given him, all five point two seconds of it, had scared him for life and made him wonder if maybe, just maybe, he had something he needed to be worried about.

There was only one way to find out. Before going to the infirmary, John planned on putting his new ability to good use. That was the stupid part. Because if something really _was_ wrong, like he was gonna die or something, he’d be risking a lot for just a little bit of information. Then again, there really wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for his sister. He’d loved her since the day she was born; more than his parents, more than David and, unfortunately, more than he’d ever loved Nancy. Growing up, their dad had been busy with the company, their mother hadn’t really cared and David had gone to college by the time she was two. He’d been all she had and, for most of her life, she’d been his. Risking his life for her wasn’t something he’d hesitate doing  which was good because what John was about to do was not only ill advised but could possibly be described as the dumbest idea he’d ever had.

When he was done with breakfast, he tossed his tray, made his excuses to Major Lorne and Captain Cadman and then made a beeline towards their comm reply. Upon arrival he typed up a message, hit send, and then prepared himself for what he’d say whenever Todd decided to finally answer. It came as a complete surprise when, exactly forty-five seconds after he’d sent the message, the terminal beeped and then Todd’s face appeared on screen. 

He didn’t look particularly happy to see him. “Sheppard. What do you want?”

“Got a little proposition for you,” John said, deciding he’d just have to wing it. He really hadn’t expected him to answer that fast. Normally it took a few hours which meant he was going to have to think of something, some kind of incentive, on the fly. Whatever it was it had to be good because otherwise the wraith would likely just hang up on him.    

He might anyway if the look on his face was any indication. “Can it not wait?” he asked, “My hive was recently involved in a battle; we suffered sufficient damage. I do not have time for –”

“Actually…” John drawled, ranking his brain for something, anything, that’d catch the wriath’s attention. This is what he got for not thinking ahead. There had to be something…he had a thought. It was lame but, at the moment, he didn’t have anything better. “A while ago we had this temporary alliance with these wraith. It didn’t end well – it was all a plot to get information about earth but the one good thing we got from it is a file containing pretty much everything we ever wanted to know about you guys but were afraid to ask. The file got deleted but not before we’d started transferring stuff into the city’s archives. I want you to come check it out and make sure what we have is accurate.”

His prediction about Todd hanging up on him now seemed to be assured. If possible, the wraith looked even more annoyed with him not to mention displeased and a little incredulous. “Allow me to understand, you wish me to abandon my responsibilities simply so I might ensure what information you have gathered about my kind is accurate?”

Fingers crossed, he nodded.

Todd growled. “No.”

Damn. So far, his plan was pretty much a no go. If he couldn’t convince Todd to come to him than any hope he had of figuring out what the hell was going on between him and Kate would go up in flames. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, _fuck!_ What he wouldn’t give right now to know what Kate’d said to him that’d made him come to her in under an hour. It had to have been something pretty damned persuasive because, in the entire time they’d known him, he’d never responded so quickly. If only…

The proverbial light bulb went off over his head.

“My sister.”

Todd froze. On screen, John watched his reptilian eyes widen just the tiniest fraction before narrowing as all his senses seemed to go on high alert.  “What of her?”

Holy hell, it’d worked. He hadn’t expected it to. And even though the whole purpose of the experiment was to measure what Kate meant to him, he’d never considered just mentioning her would get him this kind of response. Todd seemed to be waiting on baited breath for whatever he was about to say. Unintentionally, he realized he’d stumbled across a freaking gold mine. 

Swallowing the urge to grin, John realized he had him. Regardless of what he said next, the trap was set; Todd’d fallen for it hook, line and sinker. He decided to go with a little threat, just to see how he’d react. “If you can’t find the time to come do this for us then the next time you’re here, I’ll make sure my sister won’t be able to find the time for you.”

Todd growled, yellow eyes darkening to an almost amber. “You cannot keep me from her. The arrangement I have with Mr. Woolsey expressly states she is mine whenever I am –”

“I may not be able to _completely_ keep you away from her but I _can_ make it extremely difficult for you to get that alone time Woolsey said you want,” John hissed, completely pissed at Todd’s use of the word ‘mine’. His sister didn’t belong to him. She wasn’t his, not by any stretch of the imagination. If they’d been standing face to face John would’ve shot him.

“So that’s the deal, take it or leave it. You come and I promise I won’t interfere with whatever the hell you’re doing. You don’t, you lose her.”

Fear. For the first time since they started working together John saw genuine fear flash through Todd’s eyes before he could hide it. A moment later it was hidden behind a mask of open hostility and disdain but still, it’d been there; he’d seen it. He’d been afraid, probably still was, and in that moment John was very glad they were having this conversation long distance because if they weren’t be probably wouldn’t have still been breathing. The look on Todd’s face was one of stone cold fury. 

“S-so…you’ll come?”

“I will,” the wraith growled, shoulders shaking with barely suppressed rage. “Expect me within the hour, I will come by gate.”

And then he was gone, terminating the connection on his end much to John’s relief. This really had been a bad idea all things considered but it was too late to back out of it now. Todd was on his way and, hopefully, once he got here, John could finally get some answers.

At the top of the list was a better understanding of how important Kate was to him because, as thankful as he was his idea to use her as a bargaining chip had worked, in the grand scheme of things it shouldn’t have. He’d expected Todd to be angry, maybe even a little annoyed by the fact he was trying to use Kate against him, but not afraid. You were only afraid to lose people you cared about and the thought that Todd genuinely cared for her wasn’t something he’d been ready for. Respect, sure. Admiration, he could learn to deal with. But affection, sincere, _real_ affection – no, just no. Now more than ever he needed to know what was going on between them because if Todd actually _cared_ for her then John considered that a real problem. He didn’t want affection turning into anything else.

With a heavy sigh he left the replay, meandering through the corridors on his way to the control room. He had an hour to come up with a plan, a better plan, because now just knowing what Todd thought wasn’t good enough. He needed more, more info, more insight. He needed to what his sister thought about all this and he needed to see how the two of them acted together. With another sigh he got on his radio and let Chuck know Todd was coming…

~xXx~

Todd the wraith was absolutely furious. There were several reasons. For one, he had had to land his hive after suffering an attack in order to make repairs which were not going as well as he would have hoped. Two, during the battle he along with over half his crew had been injured which meant the repairs would take even longer. Three, having rejected  the offer of nourishment so that those of his crew who were in worse condition could be healed, he had had to undergo an excoriatingly painful medical procedure, a bone graft and a blood transfusion before receiving approximately forty-three stiches down the length of his left side. And four, Sheppard had called at the worst possible time with an inane request before proceeding to threaten him with the loss of Katherine if he did not comply.

It was that last one which had angered him the most. He had been careful, so very careful, to temper his feelings for Sheppard’s sister ever since he had given her the gift. Apparently, he hadn’t succeeded as admirably as he had thought. He blamed this on the intimate knowledge he had of her, the times when his curiosity had gotten the better of him and he had allowed his mind to slip into hers. One could not know the things he knew about her, could not know how she viewed herself or know of the things she had done and not have developed feelings for her.  Years spend in the service of faceless masters had left her soul blackened and her hands stained red. She might not view him as a monster but the same could not be said of herself. What Katherine saw when she looked in the mirror was so eerily similar to what he saw in his own reflection Todd could not help the feelings of sympathy and kinship he had whenever he looked at her.

And then, there were the feelings of possession. 

Her impassioned vow to the Abomination about the child, that she would protect what’s hers, would not leave him to rest. It repeated itself over and over and over again, always in her voice, always in her tone until the memory of her saying it could be recalled with prefect clarity. _‘Protect what’s yours’_ , the axiom of his house, words he’d lived by the entirety of his life. To hear another speak them, avow to them so very fervently – the effect they had had was momentous. It made him want her, all of her, her passion and courage, but it wasn’t until they’d been standing in Woolsey’s office that he had first felt the stirrings of possession.

He hungered for her to be his: _his_ ally, _his_ confidant – his in any way she would allow. The wraith were territorial by nature, possessive and avaricious of what they considered theirs. It did not make sense for him to feel this way, to want to have her so very badly. Katherine was a queen and queens could not be owed but yet his desires persisted. They were obsessive, pervasive and entirely unwise but Todd could not stop them, he did not _want_ to stop them. As contradictory as it was, as much as it went against his nature, he quite liked the idea of Katherine being his.

Which is perhaps why Sheppard’s threat proved so effective. The thought she might be taken from him, that he might _lose_ her, had filled him with dread. It was a cold hand gripping at his heart, squeezing with it’s long fingers until anger and fury had come to chase it away. How dare Sheppard use her to threaten him, how dare the human try and take her away. In that moment, had they been standing face to face, Todd very well could have killed him. Thank the stars they were not, Katherine would not have forgiven him for dispatching her brother.

He arrived in Atlantis, still in an absolutely foul mood, to find Colonel Sheppard waiting for him. He growled, “Let us get this over with.”

The human raised an eyebrow. “Well _somebody_ woke up on the wrong side of the pod this morning.”

Todd didn’t bother argue or correct him. What did he care what Sheppard’s misconceptions were as to his sleeping arrangements? Educating him was a waste of time and pointless so he remained quiet, silently willing himself not to lose his temper.

Insufferable human.

Catching the thought, John couldn’t stop himself from grinning in triumph. He’d been a little worried he’d have problem’s ‘hearing’ Todd what with the wraith’s mental abilities and all. It was a relief to know he could, at least sometimes. ‘Insufferable human’ was the first thing he’d heard since Todd’d arrived so maybe he could only hear him whenever the wraith was feeling really strongly about something. Right now he was annoyed, and probably still angry. Apparently getting him worked up caused his shields to slip.

He’d have to remember that. “Come along you,” he waved, gesturing for him to follow, “Archives are this way.”

Talons digging into the palms of his hands, Todd fell into step behind him allowing himself to be led into the bowls of the city. Atlantis’ archives were not unlike the data cores on most hives. The vast chamber had a high ceiling and a central terminal containing four screens on which any number of recorded entries could be displayed. The room hummed, creating a pleasant atmosphere similar in many ways to the natural thrum of a hive. The resulting vibrations and undercurrents made him feel more comfortable, more at ease here than in other parts of the city. Blessedly, after installing himself in front of one of the screens, Sheppard left him alone. The only other human presence was the guards posted silently outside the room. Other than that, Todd was left to his own devices.

Immediately he set aside the file Sheppard had brought up for him to look over, beginning a secondary search through Atlantis’ memory. He did not want to be here. If he could, he would be anywhere else but the human had forced his hand and so Todd though to make the best of it. The Lanteans were known for keeping meticulous records of the different cultures they encountered. He planned to search for information pertaining to his race before the onset of the war. He was immensely dismayed when he found nothing.

That did not make sense. There should be images, digital scans, audio files, literary experts, writing samples; instead his searches were met with repetitive failure. Atlantis’ archives yielded no information on who the wraith had been before the great rebellion and the destruction of the cities. What hope he had had of recovering the knowledge was now lost.

Damn.

Growling remorsefully he canceled the search and returned to the file Sheppard had pulled for him, perusing the data the humans had acquired since the inception of their expedition. What they had was very limited, scant bits and pieces here and there which amounted to nothing in the way of anything useful. It was little wonder Katherine had been tasked with gathering as much information as possible; it would seem as though, for the most part, Sheppard and the others had been fighting blind.

The realization was hardly pleasing but it did afford him some perspective, particularly on some of their assumptions. To their limited knowledge the wraith were comprised of a single entity distributed amongst individual hives. Each hive had a queen and all queens were alike, operating within a predetermined set of behaviors not unlike various insect species. The very idea was insulting and Todd resented the comparison but, without any further information with which to form an alternative opinion, he supposed he could see why they would think that.

“Having fun yet?”

Startled, Todd looked up to find Sheppard had returned. He frowned, having been so absorbed in what he had been reading he hadn’t heard the human enter. “You use the definition of that word far too liberally, I think.”

John shrugged. It’d been over an hour since he’d left and in that hour he’d finally come up with a strategy on how to go about getting the information he needed. Every six months Atlantis had a party celebrating the fact they were all still alive. Over the years their _‘Hey, we aren’t dead yet!’_ parties had become a moral staple and despite the fact they’d just had Christmas, it’d been unanimously decided not to postpone this one; especially considering they now had a state of the art rec-room, a fully stocked bar and one hell of a sound system. There were even strobe lights and a disco ball, not that they’d be using them. The whole city was going and his plan involved making Todd go, turning him over to Kate and then sitting back to ‘listen’ to what was going on.

The only obstacle was getting the wraith to go along with it. “So, bored yet?”

Todd growled. Why had Sheppard returned? Did he wish for him to finish his task or not?  “What do you care?”

Rolling his shoulders lazily, John grinned as he took to leaning against one of the other computer terminals. He’d heard him think again and decided it was time to up the ante. “Well, you see, we’re having a party here in a little bit and I thought you might like to go.”

The wraith frowned. “Dare I ask why you would assume I would wish to subject myself to another of your…festivities?”

“Kate’ll be there,” John answered, watching the effect his words had on Todd’s backbone. His spine had gone ramrod straight.

“I had not thought you would allow me the opportunity to see her.”

“I only said I’d make things difficult for you if you _didn’t_ come,” Sheppard clarified. “You came so I figure that means I’ll let you see her. Word on the street is she’s going all out, like she did at the McKay’s wedding.”

Todd hissed. “And is that supposed to entice me…”

John scowled at him. “Oh come on. Like you would actually pass up an opportunity to see my sister no matter what she’s wearing. You want something, I know you do. You’re freaking obsessed with her.”

“I am not obsessed,” Todd argued, hoping the human would not catch him in his lie. Sheppard was right, to a point; if he had the opportunity to see her he would take it. 

“Yeah, whatever,” said John dismissively, deciding not to push the issue. There would be plenty of time to get the truth out of him later provided he could actually _get him_ to come with him. “Are you coming or not?”

“I will but only because I know you will not give me peace unless I comply.”

“Great!” Sheppard chirped, turning on his heel as he led the way out of the archives up towards the rec-room. The place was already packed when they got there and, weaving through the crowd, John snagged a beer on the way up to the second floor. He found Lorne and Vega alone at a table tucked away in one of the corners and since he knew his sister would come looking for them first, he headed over.

“Hey guys!”

 As one, the two of them turned their heads, eyes widening when they saw who was behind him. “Where the hell did you come from!?!” they asked in unison.

Snagging a stool, John took a sip from his bottle before replying, “He got here about an hour ago. He’s here to double-check the archives.”

“Like, double-check them how?” Vega queried, eyeing the silent creature as he fell into an almost parade rest on Sheppard’s right. He didn’t look too happy to be there.

“I’m having him make sure all the stuff we have on the wraith is accurate.”

“Is it?” asked Lorne.

Todd shook his head. “Not nearly.”

The colonel opened his mouth but before he could get anything out, Vega beat him to it, “Does Kate know he’s here?”

“Not yet,” John said, taking another sip, “She’ll be here any minute though.”

Vega made a face. “I don’t know how happy she’ll be to see him – she’s got a date.”

Both John and Todd looked taken aback, one in surprise and the other in confusion. “What is a date?” the wraith asked.

“With who?” demanded the colonel.

“One of the new marines, Phoenix I think she said his name was,” Lorne supplied. “She was real excited about it too.”

“What is a date?” Todd asked a second time.

“It’s a courting ritual,” Vega informed him, resting her elbows on the table and leaning forwards as she explained. “Can be formal or casual although, in this instance, the word ‘date’s being applied loosely. Pretty much she’s using it as an excuse to get laid.”

John choked on his drink. “Captain!”

“What?” she shrugged innocently, “Apparently, it’s been a while; like over a year or something. She’s desperate. Deal with it.”

Still coughing, Sheppard began to protest. “I don’t _want_ to deal with it. Kate’s my sister!”

Instead of looking apologetic, Alicia’s eyes narrowed. “And that means what, exactly?”

“It means, regardless of what or who she’s doing, I don’t want to know about it!!!”

“Well too bad, you asked.”

“ _I_ didn’t ask, _he_ did!” John yelled, pointing towards Todd who was now wearing an expression as if to suggest he’d swallowed something sour.

“Oh, right.” Vega turned to him, “That answer your question?”

He nodded, “Unfortunately.”

John’s head turned slowly towards him, an incredulous look on his face. What right did _Todd_ have to be even remotely upset about this? And which part was he most upset over, the explanation of what a date was or the revelation of what Kate had been planning to do with her evening? Or maybe it was the who. Actually, John had his own questions about that one.

“She’s really got a date with Captain Phoenix?”

Lorne nodded. “Yeah – she set it up last week. Why? There something wrong with him?”

The colonel shook his head. “There’s nothing wrong _per say_ except he’s not really her type.”

Vega found this hard to believe. “Have you seen him?” she exclaimed, “He’s everyone’s type. Hell, _I’d_ sleep with him. If he’s not her type then what the fuck is?”

Sheppard shrugged. “She’s got a thing for bad boys, always has. You know; long hair, leather, tattoos, the works. And an age gap – half the guys she dated in high school were older then her by at least three years. In college she dated one of her professors.”

Unsurprised, Lorne snorted into the neck of his bottle while Vega hurriedly raised her wineglass in order to hide the look she was suddenly giving Todd, wondering as she did if the colonel had any idea he’d just described the wraith to a literal fucking T.

And the answer was no, he hadn’t but now that he’d been made aware, John felt as if he might be sick. He could’ve lived his entire life without ever making _that_ connection and was a little pissed at Vega for drawing him the map. Fortunately for him (or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it), he was spared having to dwell on it by the arrival of the woman in question.

“JONATHAN PATRICK!!!”

Whirling around, John slipped sideways and almost fell off his stool. Striding towards him – wearing a black leather dress that just _had_ to be the shortest she owned – was a very irate Kate with and equally done up Cadman following close behind.

“What in God’s name are you wearing!?!” he demanded once the shock of seeing her appear dressed like a hooker had worn off. Okay, maybe that was uncalled for. It’s just; he’d seen _bathing suits_ with more coverage than that thing she was wearing. I mean, God damn!

Marching up to their table, she stopped, crossed her arms and glared at him. “What am _I_ wearing?” Her eyes slid left to the alien standing next to her brother, “A dress,” she announced impertinently, “Now what’s _he_ doing here!?!”

“That’s not a dress, that’s a shirt!” John protested finding it very difficult to concentrate all of a sudden as everyone was having a different reaction to her arrival. Lorne was trying _not_ to look at her while silently chanting over and over again how she was his sister; Vega wasn’t that discreet and was openly looking her up and down, bemoaning the fact Kate didn’t swing that way; Cadman was upset because all the work she’d done on Kate’s hair and makeup looked like it was going to go to waste and Todd was mentally drooling.

He shook his head, forcefully pushing out all other thoughts save his own as he looked to her and asked, “The hell were you thinking when you got dressed today?”

Kate gave him a look of supreme annoyance. “I was thinking I was gonna get to fuck somebody tonight and needed something I could easily get out of!! Now answer the question! What is _he_ doing here and why the hell is this the first I’ve heard of it!?!”

With so many thoughts in his head, the colonel was finding it difficult to answer, “Well I –”

“Sheppard summoned me to verify the information you have concerning the wraith is accurate,” Todd explained, leaving his place at Sheppard’s side in order to approach the incensed female. Her eyes flew to his as an expression of skepticism transformed her face into one of intense incredulity. It faded however, the moment he had her attention; allowing him the opportunity to lazily take in the many nuances of her attire. So much skin, he liked this dress he decided; provided he was the only male who got to see her wear it.

Behind him, Sheppard almost lost his seat again. What the hell was that!?!

Kate opened her mouth.

“Major Sheppard?”

She turned, taking a breath of surprise at the man standing behind her. Captain Phoenix, damn. “Matthew, hi.”

The marine smiled at her, carefully looking her up and down. “Wow you look great. You look –”

A low growl cut him off causing his eyes to fly upwards to the wraith he hadn’t even noticed because he’d been too distracted by what his date was wearing (or not wearing as the case may be). Holy shit, where the hell had he come from? And what was he doing here?

“I –”

“Katherine is spoken for.”

The hell? Phoenix blinked. “Uh –”

The major, meanwhile, had turned around again; her expression unamused. “Oh I am, am I?”

He nodded, “You are. That is our agreement. You’re mine whenever I’m in the city.”

Kate scowled annoyed but mostly insulted by the insinuation – not to mention the tone behind it. If Todd wasn’t acting jealous she’d eat her shoes. “For the record, I’m not _yours_ but you’re right; we do have an agreement.” She turned back to Phoenix. “I’m sorry but I’m gonna have to bail on you, apparently I’ve got work to do. Maybe a rain check?”

Disappointed but not nearly brave enough to try protesting given the way the colonel’s wraith was looking at him, the captain nodded. “Okay. Yeah, sure,” he stammered, nervously edging away from both his date and the creature currently looming behind her. Fuck, he was intimidating. And he looked _pissed_. “We can just…try again later. M-maybe next party, huh?”

“It’s a date,” she replied testily, reaching back for Todd’s arm before dragging him away.

In the meantime, John watched her go knowing fully well that following her was out of the question. Vega, on the other hand, had turned to Phoenix.

“Tough luck dude. You can thank the colonel here for ruining your evening. Otherwise you’d still be getting lucky.”

Mumbling something about it not being anyone’s fault (even though it was) just bad timing, the captain said his goodbyes and made his way back through the crowd towards his team. In his wake, everyone fell silent until Cadman and Vega decided to accost Lorne by dragging him onto the dance floor. Alone, John finished his beer before going in search of his Teyla and Ronon while Kate continued to weave through the crowd until she and Todd reached the balcony. Outside, the temperature was still well below freezing but even that seemed preferable to staying inside. Besides, the Ancients seemed to have been pretty good at manipulating their environment; their space heaters worked better than anything anyone on Earth could dream up. It may be twenty degrees outside but the section where they were now sitting was nice and warm.

With a critical eye Kate leaned back in her chair and studied Todd. “Care to explain what the hell that was all about?”

The wraith tried to look innocent. “To what are you referring?”

Kate snorted. “Don’t give me that, you know damn well what I’m talking about and I except you to answer. What was with all that ‘mine’ crap?”

Todd sighed, searching for an explanation that would make sense. He wasn’t even entirely sure _he_ understood. He had reacted instinctually. “The wraith are…territorial by nature. We are – I do not know how to describe it.”

“Prone to irrational fits of jealousy over things that aren’t really yours?”

His eyes narrowed. “I would not go as far as to say that.”

“I would,” Kate deadpanned. “I mean it, I don’t belong to you and I don’t enjoy being treated as though I do.”

The rejection stung although Todd knew she did not mean it that way. He did not however, have control over his reaction or the feeling of longing that accompanied it. Would that someday she would deem him worthy but that day was not today. At present, he was little more than an ongoing job to her – an obligation – while to him she had come to mean so much more.

“I am sorry my presence has ruined your plans for the evening.”

Considering how he’d reacted to Phoenix, Kate very much doubted that. “No you’re not.”

“Hmmnn, perhaps,” he admitted, folding his arms as he settled back in his chair. “I am however sorry you are unhappy.”

Kate sighed, “I’m not _un_ happy, I’m just…I got all dressed up for nothing and now I…”

Across the table Todd leaned forwards and leered, his mouth twisting into a predatory and hungry grin, “Oh, I wouldn’t say that...”

Kate felt the back of her neck heat up, a blush sweeping over her cheeks. She was suddenly very glad it was dark outside and that they were alone. “Glad you like the dress.”

His answering growl was so low it was almost a purr, “I understand this was your way of trying to send some sort of message?”

Embarrassed, the woman in front of him cleared her throat and nodded. “I ah – that was the plan. I didn’t want there to be any confusion.”

“In that outfit I do not see how there could be,” Todd commented dryly. “Though I am curious why you felt the need to make such a distinction.”

Kate sighed, “Because if I didn’t he might think this was a real date and quite frankly, I’m not really looking for that sort of thing right now, not with everything that’s going on. I don’t need a boyfriend; I just need somebody willing who can get the job done.”

Her companion snorted. “Given the inferior virility of most human males I highly doubt your needs would have been met even if I’d not been summoned. Perhaps going forwards you may consider looking amongst the wraith for your companionship? I can assure you, our stamina is much more likely to leave you satisfied than any the choices available to you here.”

The woman across from him raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you forgetting something? I’m human, I doubt the wraith would be in any hurry to line up outside my door.”

“On the contrary,” Todd insisted, “I can think of several officers under my command who would quite enjoy the opportunity. You are human yes, but you are also strong; and defiant. In an alliance with so few queens, there would be many who would relish the chance to mate with one such as you.”

Eyeing him, Kate decided they really needed a change in subject. She was about two seconds shy of asking whether or not he was anywhere on that list. And wouldn’t _that_ be an interesting topic of discussion. “How does that work anyway, with the queens? There’s only one to a ship so how do you guys…”

“If a queen desires release she need but choose a male in order to find it. Any male not chosen must find either an alternative source or go without. There is a reason the majority of our worshipers are female.”

“Ah.”

“Of course,” he added suggestively, “If you are a male with a high enough position and enough experience and power, you need not worry. If your queen does not want you there are others.”

“And that’s you I take it?” Kate asked, smirking good naturedly.

The wraith grinned, “Perhaps.”

Chuckling, Kate tried to remember what else he’d told her about wraith romance only to frown when she realized something he’d said earlier now no longer made sense. “What about marriage or bonding ceremonies or whatever you call them? I thought you told me you guys have those and that divorce equals death.”

Todd hissed, regretting having told her that because he had done so in anger. He’d not lied, it was true, it was simply no longer a common practice. “Many thousands of years ago we bonded much the same as you do but now; we have so few females most of whom are queens. A female can still have an exclusive claim on a male but the same cannot be said in reverse. There are simply too few of them.”

Through the darkness and the starlight, Kate studied him; mapping his features as though trying to commit them to memory. In the shadows his eyes glowed, a mixture of their normal golden-yellow but with an electric blue sheen. They were beautiful. “I wish I’d known you then.”

“You would not have liked me,” Todd confessed, knowing it to be true. The countless centuries had tempered him, hardening him to stone where before he had been like molten steel. No, Katherine would not have liked him then but he, had he allowed himself the opportunity, would have very much liked her.

Their contemplations were cut short, disappearing as Laura Cadman appeared, flinging open one of the doors as she yelled for Kate to come quickly. Rushing back inside, Kate hurried after the concerned captain with Todd in her wake; twisting through the crowd until she got to John who was on the floor clutching his head while Teyla repeatedly called his name.

“What happened?” she demanded.

“He collapsed,” Ronon explained, turning to her. He frowned, eyes narrowing as they caught sight of the wraith hovering at her shoulder. “What’s he doing here?”

“John called him, asked him to come double check the archives,” Kate explained, “Now, what happened before he collapsed?”

“Nothing, we were talking,” Rodney said. “Then he started complaining about his head and, the next thing we know, he’s on the floor.”

“He’s been acting weird all day,” Major Lorne announced, pushing his way to the front of the crowd with Vega in tow. “He needs to go to the infirmary.”

Deciding that sounded like the best option, Kate turned back to Ronon and told him to help her get John off the floor. The act of trying to pick him up seemed to jar him out of whatever stupor he’d fallen into, making him protest, “I’m fine. I don’t need –”

“Bullshit Sir, you fucking collapsed,” Vega reputed, going to help Ronon and Kate. She threw one of the colonel’s arms over her shoulder and then kicked off her heels so she could more easily maneuver. “Shut up and walk.”

John was indignant. “I’m fine, really, I’m fine. I just need to sit back down –”

His protest was cut short when Kate’s fist hit him square in the face, knocking him out cold. His body went limp, Vega almost lost her footing.

“Fuck, Kate! What’d you do that for?”

“It’s easier,” she explained, following Alicia’s example as she kicked off her shoes and then stooped down to pick up her brother’s feet. “Grab his arms. Todd...” she turned, “…go ahead and warn whoever’s in the infirmary we’re coming and have them prepare the restraints. When we get there I want him strapped down so he can’t escape.”

Having received immense from watching Katherine render Sheppard unconscious, the wraith nodded and disappeared into the crowd trusting the humans to get out of his way. In his wake, Vega took one arm while Ronon took the other and Kate, who was holding his legs at about the knee, steered. Once they got him down the stairs they were golden and headed straight for the nearest transporter. They had to prop him up in order to get him in, and with four of them it was a tight fit, but when they arrived in the infirmary they found a concerned Jennifer and Todd waiting for them.

John was also awake; having woken several minutes ago he had begun to squirm, complaining about being carried, until Ronon had threatened to drop him if he didn’t stop. He did drop him when it came time to get him onto the gurney which is when Sheppard started complaining again – insisting to all and sundry he was fine. Nobody believed him which was why, after they’d gotten him on the bed, Kate climbed up with him and sat on him.

The colonel was particularly unhappy with that. “Get off me!” he cried.

“No!” his sister fired back, looking around the room until her eyes landed on Todd the very amused wraith. “Here, make yourself useful; go find something to tie him down with.”

Grinning, Todd left to do as instructed, returning shortly with a set of restraints he’d retrieved from a petrified nurse. While Sheppard tried, in vain, to dislodge his sister who was sitting astride him, hands pressing down on his shoulders while her knees dug into his sides, the wraith made quick work of his wrists and ankles; securing him to the bed frame. Then, offering a hand, Todd helped Katherine climb down; releasing her only after her feet had had touched the floor.

“Thanks.”

John looked at her as though he’d been betrayed. His plan was unraveling but he couldn’t give up, not yet. He needed more info. “There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m fine. Now unstrap me and let me –”

“You’re not fine,” Vega argued, “You fell to the floor because of a fucking headache. That’s the opposite of fine. Doc,” she turned to Jennifer, “Tell me you’re keeping him overnight?”

“I’m keeping him overnight,” she assured the captain, just as concerned for the colonel’s health as everyone else. Something was definitely wrong and she wasn’t about to let Sheppard’s stoic solider thing trick her into releasing him without doing a full work-up. “I’ll put him in an observation room, run a video feed, and have the nurses’ check on him every couple hours. Then in the morning I’ll order some tests.”

Satisfied the colonel would be taken care of, Vega announced she was going back to the party and that she’d tell Lorne what was going on. Ronon left too and Kate, who decided – since she wasn’t getting laid – that she was done for the night, turned to Todd and said, “So, do you wanna go back to my room with me and watch a movie or should I drop you off at yours?”

He considered his options, realizing quickly that there was very little to actually consider. He had been having a pleasant time with her until her brother had collapsed. “What movie?”

Kate grinned. “Something you’ll like, I promise.” She started walking, bare feet slapping quietly against the floor, lost against the heavy thud of Todd’s boot steps. After a while, once they’d reached the residential tower, she finally turned to him and asked, “So, what’re you really doing here?”

The wraith scowled. “Your brother summoned me so I might make sure the information pertaining to wraith in your archives is –”

“– Accurate, yeah, I heard.” She frowned, studying his profile, “Since when do you come when John calls?”

Todd growled. “Since he made it abundantly clear there would be consequences if I should not.” He saw Katherine raise an eyebrow, expression begging further details. He sighed, “He threatened to interfere in my dealings with you if I did not comply.”

Beside him, grey eyes turned dark, narrowing in anger. “Did he, now?”

The wraith nodded.

“Son of a…” Kate snarled, pissed. Fuck him; fuck him straight to hell. John had no right to go behind her back and do something like this. She had half a mind to go back to the infirmary and beat him to within an inch of his life.

“Katherine?”

She looked up, noting with some surprise the expression of worry on Todd’s face. “John doesn’t have control over me,” she spat, needing him to know that so nothing like this would ever happen again. The only one capable of ending their contract was Woolsey. “He’s the CO of Atlantis yeah, but I report directly to Woolsey. John doesn’t get to give me orders because he’s incapable of remaining objective. He can threaten all he wants, but he doesn’t get a say. He fucking lied to you.”

Todd’s face flashed surprise. “But why? What possible profit would there be in allowing me to believe –”

“He wanted to see what you’d do, how you’d react,” Kate guessed, angrily shaking her head. “He’s fucking paranoid – John’s worried something’s gonna happen with us.”

“Such as?” Todd queried, fringing ignorance over what Sheppard was concerned about. He knew full well what the human feared but, selfishly, he wanted to hear her say it; as though doing so might somehow make the concern genuine.

But Katherine wasn’t fooled. “You know damn well what the hell he’s afraid of. It’s fucking stupid how terrified he is of it. I doesn’t fucking understand…”

Apparently when angry, variations on the word ‘fuck’ were something Katherine used quite often. “Are his concerns founded?”

Pausing just outside her room, Kate turned to look at him. “That’s a trick question,” she said, waving open her door and inviting him in. Then, too worked up and furious over whatever game her brother was playing to care about her modesty, she unzipped her dress and wiggled out of it; kicking it into a corner as she went in search of sweat pants and a tank top. 

When she turned, she found the wraith watching her with the same hooded eyed expression she’d first seen when he’d walked in on her in the shower. “See something you like?”

Todd’s eyes snapped to hers. “Why is the answer to whether or not Sheppard’s concerns are valid a trick question?”

Crossing her arms, she gazed back at him and sighed, “Okay, look. There’s a saying on earth, several actually, about how you should ‘never say never’ and how ‘you don’t know what the future holds’ and not knocking something until you try it. The point is it’s never a good idea to deal in absolutes. Things change. How did you feel about me when you met me?”

“You were a challenger, someone that must be dealt with,” the wraith replied. He had no idea how this was relevant but if it helped Katherine answer his question he would humor her. “No matter how intriguing you proved yourself to be, you were an obstacle.”

“And now?”

“You are an equal. Something that, until I met you, I thought no human would ever become.”

Kate felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth upon hearing him declare her an equal. She’d love to linger on it, maybe tell him she told him so, but she pressed on, “And you, when I met you, you were a job. You still are to some extent but now you’re more than that. I wasn’t just upset about John not telling me you were here, I was pissed knowing that whatever you were doing here it was probably not your choice and that my brother was going to torture you again by making you do some stupid human thing. He treats you like shit, constantly trying to make you look like an idiot and that...bugs me.”

“Because you respect me, you did not wish me to suffer unnecessarily,” Todd concluded, taking a step towards her. He lowered his head, locking his eyes with hers so he could see the truth of his statement shining back at him. His next words, however, were far more wistful. He only hoped them to be true, he did not know it for certain. “Because you care for me, because you like me…”

Her conviction wavered, throat constricting as she swallowed hard wondering how the hell she’d let herself be drawn into this conversation with him in the first place. They were treading on very dangerous ground and yet, his gaze was direct; challenging. She’d never backed down from him before, she’d be damned if she started now. “I like you more then I should.”

Todd’s breath caught in his throat. “And what does that mean?” he rasped.

Tongue thick in her mouth, Kate had trouble making the words. She had to force herself to answer knowing that if she didn’t she’d lose more than if she told him the truth. “It means…if things keep going the way they’re going… and if I’m not careful…then, yeah, my brother’s got something he needs to worry about.”

Pupils dilating, Todd felt his eyes widen; his surprise evident. He had not thought that to be her reply. He had hoped, stars yes he had hoped, but he had not expected it. That Katherine saw potential in him, in them, to be something more then what they were, filled him with excitement. It was not a confession of interest, or of attraction, but where before there had been no hope for either now lay the possibility for both. Katherine was a worthy female, a queen amongst humans – the chance to earn her affection, for her to be truly his, was something he greatly desired. 

Kate kept her eyes locked on his until she could no longer stand their intensity. Turning her back to him, she busied herself with finding the remote and then picking a movie she thought he wouldn’t hate. She decided on the first _‘Lord of the Rings’_ , figuring that if he liked it they could watch the others later. Popping in the disk, she settled on the couch and pressed play, all while determinedly keeping her eyes on the screen. It was in the middle of Bilbo’s birthday party that Todd finally decided to sit down, lowering himself onto the cushion next to her with his hands in his lap. By the time they got to Rivendell he’d relaxed, leaned back and propped one booted foot up on her coffee table. They didn’t talk for the entire movie and, when it was over, Kate silently walked him to her door before muttering a quiet goodnight, and making sure he actually went into his room. Then, closing the door, she let out a sigh before turning off the TV and crawling into bed.

She was asleep in minutes.

~xXx~

John woke the next morning to a head full of whispers, a splitting headache and no memory of where he was. Opening his eyes, he recognized he was in the infirmary. He tried to sit up only to realize he couldn’t because he was tied down. Suddenly he remembered how he’d gotten here; he’d been carried and Todd had tied him down. When he got out of here he was gonna kill him.

“You’re awake.”

He blinked, eyes searching until they found Jennifer. “Hey doc,” he said groggily. “Where is everyone?”

“Probably at lunch,” she informed him. “You’ve been asleep for over fourteen hours.”

He frowned. “Is Woolsey back yet?”

She shook her head. “No but we have heard from him. Apparently the talks are going well but he’s going to be a few more days.”

“Huh.” A new wave of whispers threatened to make his head explode; he winced and decided to ask if Todd was still here.

“He is, he was in the archives all this morning going through our information.”

Another wince. “By himself?”

“Kate’s with him.” Jennifer’s eyes narrowed in concern, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, I’m just…” he trailed off, suddenly assaulted by an onslaught of silent inquiries into the state of his immediate health. Apparently the doctor was really worried. “Could you maybe not think so loud?”

Eyes wide, it took her a minute before Jennifer realized what he was talking about. “Can you…are-are you reading my mind?”

John nodded slowly, groaning as he was bombarded with another strong wave of ideas that weren’t his. “You and everyone else in the damned city.”

In shock, she sputtered, “When did this start!?!”

“Two days ago,” he replied, knowing his gig was up. He really should’ve just gone to the infirmary, it’d been stupid to think he could use this to his advantage. “After we got back from PX9.”

Jennifer was exasperated. Two days and he was only now telling her he’d gained the ability to read people’s minds? If he weren’t bedridden and in pain, she’d slap him. “Where you planning on telling anyone or were you just –”

“I was gonna tell you,” he muttered, laboring under the sudden effort it took to talk. It was getting difficult to separate his thoughts from everyone else’s. And it hurt, his head felt like it was gonna split open. “I just wanted to get something done with it first.”

Comprehension dawning, the doctor looked at her patient in extreme annoyance. “Todd. That’s why you invited him here isn’t it? You wanted to try and read his mind.”

Groaning, John could do little more the nod. 

She scowled. “Dare I ask what you were hoping to get?”

The colonel moaned. “I was…I wanted to see if he was telling the truth. ‘Bout Kate. ‘Bout not having any plans for her.”

“And is he?”

Sheppard groaned again, trying in vain to push out all the thoughts except his. “I…I have no idea what he’s planning but it’s something. He likes her, I did…I did learn that. He cares about her too. Like…like he really cares.”

Jennifer’s curiosity got the better of her. “Like she’s his friend or like… _romantically_?”

“The second one,” John confessed, twisting his neck as if he could prevent more thoughts from coming in just by moving his head. “He’s…he’s definitely attracted to her and he…last night…the way he looked at her – he got all territorial when Kate was talking to her date. It wasn’t, it’s not right. He called her his.”

The doctor sighed. It was obvious to anyone with a working set of eyes that Todd was interested in Kate. It was also obvious that Kate didn’t share that interest. He was a job and while yes, they’d started getting friendly Jennifer wouldn’t go so far as to say they were actually friends.

“Okay look,” she told the colonel, “It doesn’t matter if he likes her, or wants her other anything like that –”

“What!?! Of course it matters!” John protested. “She _kissed_ him!”

Jennifer rolled her eyes. “She kissed him to get back at you, not because she’s secretly attracted to him or something. She doesn’t want him back.”

“And that matters why, exactly?” Sheppard wanted to know. “It’s bad enough –”

“It matters because Todd’s arrogant enough to want her to want him before he decides to do anything about it,” Jennifer exclaimed.  “Unless he’s sure he’s got a chance, he’s not gonna do anything so you can stop being paranoid about it. It doesn’t matter if he’s attracted to her because right now, it’s nothing more than an observation. You’re making yourself sick over something that’s never going to happen. Literally! If it weren’t for trying to read Todd’s mind you would’ve come to me right away instead of waiting until you completely collapsed! I only hope it’s not too late.”

With a sigh, she walked away leaving the colonel to hang his head and groan as another wave of thoughts rampaged through his cranium. With a groan he sank back into his pillows and stared uselessly up at the ceiling, realizing that Jennifer was most likely right about a lot of it. Todd might like Kate but Kate didn’t like Todd.

At least he hoped she didn’t. Problem was, he’d spent so much time trying to get a bead on Todd the damned wraith he’d completely neglected the opportunity to find out what his sister thought of the whole mess. If Katie liked him, even a little bit, even if it was only as a friend, Todd might get it in his head to jump the gun anyway. John sincerely hoped not because if that happened, if Todd decided he wanted her, there wasn’t really a whole lot he’d be able to do to dissuade him. What the wraith wanted the wraith eventually got one way or another. The same could be said of Kate, his sister was stubborn.

John sighed.

Damn.

~xXx~

After an initial round of tests Jennifer realized she should probably tell the others what was going on. She called Lorne and gave him a brief overview of the situation before asking how he wanted to handle it. With Colonel Sheppard out of the equation the major was now in charge so after delegating several tasks down the chain of command, Lorne told the doctor to call up the rest of Sheppard’s team and then meet him in the briefing room. When she arrived the first thing out of everyone’s mouths was what was wrong with him.

Fortunately she had an answer. “There’s a parasite in his brain. At first I thought it was a tumor but then I realized it was growing much more quickly than it would be if that’s what is was. From what I can tell it’s feeding off Colonel Sheppard’s synaptic activity – that’s why he can hear what people are thinking. In order to generate more electrical impulses the parasite’s turned on the inactive parts of his brain.”

“Like what happened to me when I got hit with the ascension machine,” Rodney mused, “Only what’s happening to him is because of a disease and not because he’s preparing –”

“– To ascend to a higher plane of existence yeah, we got that part.” Lorne sighed, “So, what do we do?”

“I’ve no idea,” Jennifer confessed, turning to Ronon. “I don’t suppose you know of any more mystical shrines?”

He shook his head.

The doctor sighed, turning her attention back to the others. “Then I really don’t know what all to try. I’ve put him in isolation; I thought getting him away from everyone might help but he says everything’s as loud as ever. Other than knocking him out or putting him into a medically induced coma I don’t know what else I can try.”

“Maybe there is something in Atlantis’ archives, some mention of this parasite or of the disease,” suggested Teyla, glancing round the table. “It would certainly do no harm to look. The city’s archives have yielded us information in the past.”

Knowing they had to start somewhere, and the archives were as good a place as any, Lorne readily agreed. “Let’s try that. I think Kate and Todd are still down there so I’ll give them a call. Once we find something, if we find something, I’ll radio everyone and then we can decide what to do from there.”

In support of his plan, the briefing room emptied: Teyla and Ronon to the gym, Rodney and Jennifer to the infirmary. Lorne, meanwhile, retreated to his office after telling Kate over the radio to begin searching for any mention of either the parasite or Colonel Sheppard’s symptoms. Then he sat down and got started on his paperwork, crossing his fingers they’d know more in a couple hours.

It took three.

After three hours of searching Todd finally stumbled across a medical entry detailing a disease with many of the same symptoms as the colonel. It wasn’t an exact match but it had more commonalities than any of the other aliments he had read about over the last several hours. Feeling certain he had discovered the culprit, Todd first called Katherine – who had since left to help Major Lorne settle a dispute – and then the others, asking them to meet him at his present location.

They arrived shortly, all wanting to know the same thing. He answered their inquiries patiently, hoping they would at least let him finish before bombarding him with questions.

This was not the case.

“But how do we know this is even the right one?” asked Rodney, not even a full minute into the wraith’s explanation. “Yeah it’s got most of the same symptoms but there’s no mention of gaining the ability to read minds. What if –”

“I am certain this is the disease affecting the colonel,” Todd assured him, fingers twitching as he stepped to one side so Katherine could examine the entry. “There are too many commonalities for it to be anything different.”

“But –”

“He’s right,” agreed Kate, turning back around to face everyone. “This is it, it’s gotta be.”

“But then, what about the mind reading thing?” Lorne wondered. “It’s not like we can just write it off. It’s a kinda big part of what’s wrong with –”

“I have a theory on that, actually,” said Kate. “The NC26 serum drove everybody who took it nuts except for me, Sixteen, Ninety-One, Twelve, Eleven, Twenty-Four and Twenty-Five, Sixty-Two and Three. You wanna know what all of us have in common?”

“What?” asked Ronon.

“The ATA gene.”

Jennifer’s eyes lit up. “You think that because Colonel Sheppard’s brain is already technically more advanced, he has an extra symptom.”

She nodded.

“So then this _is_ the right one.”

Rodney scoffed. “We don’t know that for sure though. At best, this is all conjecture. We don’t have any proof – ”

“It’s the only disease that fits,” argued Lorne, ticking facts off his fingers as he laid out the evidence. “The parasite enters through the bloodstream and is carried by insects – ya’ll said the colonel was bit by something while ya’ll were on your way back to the gate on your last mission. The log also says after making its way into the brain, the parasite’ll start to feed off the brain’s natural electrical impulses. This makes the damn thing grow until the pressure it exerts on the brain tissue starts giving the host one hell of a headache. I don’t know about you but I think it’s safe to say we’ve found our guy so the next question is what do we do about it?”

“The Lanteans were able to devise a treatment by manipulating the natural enzymes of a particular plant,” the wraith informed them. “The entry provides instruction on how to do so along with an image and physical description of the plant in question. There is also a list of planets where it can be located but I doubt it will be of any help to us.”

“Why not?” Teyla frowned.

“These records are over ten thousand years old; much has changed in that time,” Todd explained. “Of the fourteen planets listed I know of only two that may still be viable. It is difficult to tell for certain as it has been decades if not centuries since I have set foot on either. There is, however, an easier way to acquire what we need.”

Ronon’s eyes narrowed. “How?”

“There is a queen belonging to another alliance who has a fondness for all manner of flora and things that grow. Her hive has a rather impressive arboretum and, when last I had visited, I am certain I saw the specimen we require. It is one of her focal points.”

The humans stared at him. “You mean to tell me there’s a hive out there with a whole freaking forest in the middle of it?” asked Lorne, openly gaping at this new information. “Are you fucking kidding me!?!”

“I do not see why you are so surprised,” Todd commented dryly, cocking his head to one side as he studied the major. “Surely you have guessed by now our ships are not so very different from your human cities. There are amenities, areas for recreation and entertainment venues the same as are here.”

Having never really wondered how the wraith actually lived, Lorne dropped his eyes. “Ah…”

Kate, meanwhile, turned to look at him. “So, you think you can get this queen to let us have –”

“What about the other planets?” Ronon asked loudly, not really into the idea of asking a wraith for help. He had enough trouble with how often they had to ask Todd to come bail them out; there was no need to drag some other wraith into the equation. One was enough.

Major Lorne didn’t have quite the same dilemma. “Well I guess we can try but like Todd said, this report’s over then thousand years old. It’d probably be easier –”

“Don’t take this the wrong way but I don’t trust you,” said Ronon, staring straight at Todd as he said it. “It’s better we just take care of this ourselves.”

Lip curling, the wraith replied with a snarl, “I would despair if you did fortunately; Sheppard’s fate is not up to you.” He returned to Lorne, “Now, I believe I can –”

“I think we should at least attempt to find the plant ourselves before accepting any outwards assistance,” Teyla advised, no more keen on Todd’s proposal then her teammate. “At least then we can be sure –”

“Sheppard does not have that much time,” Todd protested. “Your pride and unwillingness to accept my help is not worth his life.”

“No offense, but why do you care?” Rodney demanded, “It’s not like you actually _like_ him or anything.”

The wraith seethed, fingers itching to reach out and strangle every one of the intolerable humans. He growled, “My reasons are my own and do not concern you.”

Rodney gulped and Ronon started to growl back but before either of them could say anything Lorne jumped between them and held out his arms. “That’s enough,” he cautioned, eyeing both parties to make sure they’d back down before he continued. “So here’s what’s gonna happen. Todd’s gonna go talk to the queen while you, Ronon and Teyla go check out whatever planets on the list you can get a lock on. That way all our bases are covered and whichever of you gets back with the plant, you can collect your two hundred dollars and move on. Capeesh?”

The colonel’s team nodded in unison while Todd, who actually understood that reference, followed suit. Breathing a sigh Lorne let his arms fall back to his sides as Ronon, Teyla and Rodney all turned and marched out of the archives. Jennifer followed, muttering something about checking on her patient and how putting him in a medical coma was probably the most humane choice. When she was gone, the major turned back to Todd.

“You on board?”

With narrowed eyes the wraith gave a slow nod.

“Whataya need from me?” asked Lorne.

“A jumper would be greatly appreciated. And Katherine,” Todd replied. “I know you do not trust me anymore than the Setedan does. If you agree to allow her to accompany me you can be sure –”

“– This isn’t a trick?” He turned to Kate, “You okay going with that?”

“I am,” she assured him. Her posture was determined, “John’s my brother. If it saves is life I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Lorne knew she would, that wasn’t the issue. The issue was nobody trusted Todd and the only one Todd trusted was the woman standing next to him.  “She stays with you, the whole time, got it? Whatever excuse you have to come up with, whatever story will explain why she’s with you; Major Sheppard does not leave your side until your ass is back in Atlantis. You copy?”

Understanding of the human’s distrust, if somewhat annoyed, Todd bowed his head before gesturing at Katherine he was ready to depart. Waving her in front of him he followed her from the archive room first to her equipment locker where she donned her armor and then the jumper bay. Lorne, meanwhile, returned to his office hoping that in his absence Strauss and Teldy hadn’t had time to kill each other yet. He’d had Kate help him break the news to both of them about their new team assignments and, predictably, neither had handled it well. There had been lots of yelling, some shouting and a couple of threats before he’d had to call time out. Now they were waiting for him back in his office probably hoping he’d changed his mind.

He hadn’t. The both of them would just have to learn to fucking deal with it. Sheppard was sick, Woolsey was gone and once again they were relying on Todd the damned wraith to save the day. Lorne didn’t have time for Teldy and Strauss’ bullshit. He had better things to do…

~xXx~

By morning the situation hadn’t improved. Sheppard was in a coma, they hadn’t heard from Woolsey, Todd and Kate were still gone and Lorne was in the gate room awaiting the return of the colonel’s team. The three of them had spent the night traveling to different planets looking for the stupid magic plant without much success. They’d pretty much exhausted the list which, of the original fourteen, only five had turned out to be reachable and reachable did not mean viable. Todd’s prediction was coming true: the first gate was under water, the second one let out into a planet wide desert, the third into a frozen tundra and the fourth into a rainforest with some not so friendly wildlife. Any minute now they were due back from the fifth planet and, based on their track record so far, Lorne wasn’t gonna hold his breath.

“So how’d it go?”

“Not well,” replied a weary Teyla looking more than a little worse for wear. “The terrain was hospitable enough but the locals…”

“Weren’t exactly happy to see us,” finished Rodney. “Told us if we didn’t go back the way we came they’d feed us to their masters.”

Lorne raised an eyebrow. “Masters?”

“The wraith,” Ronon deadpanned. “We think they were wraith worshipers.”

“How nice.”

“We decided to leave rather than risk it,” Teyla concluded, sighing. “Has Todd returned?”

“Not yet.”

“Has he sent a message?” asked Rodney, “Maybe to say it was gonna be a while because it’s been nearly ten hours. If we haven’t heard anything back by now he’s probably –”

“Not coming back,” the Setedan growled. “He’s played us.”

“Maybe, but I doubt it,” Lorne disagreed, “Kate went with him.”

“That means exactly jack squat,” said Rodney angrily. “If Todd wants to he can just get rid of her. It probably wouldn’t even take that much effort. Kate’s a super soldier yeah but Todd’s stronger. If he wanted he could –”

“Todd wouldn’t hurt her if his life depended on it,” said Lorne, “And besides, it was his idea to take her with him in the first place.”

The scientist blinked. “What! Why’d he do that!?!”

“Because he’s not an idiot,” the major told him, “He _knows_ we don’t trust him.” 

Ronon didn’t buy it. “That is only reason?” he asked, not believing for a second Todd didn’t have secondary motivation for taking Kate with him. He wanted something from her, they all knew it. Question was what. “You know he –”

“He won’t hurt her,” Lorne assured him, confident in that even if he wasn’t too sure about everything else. “If it were anyone one else I’d be worried but it’s not. It’s Kate. He wants her to work for him, to be a spy for his alliance – that’s what he was here to talk to Woolsey about last month. He trusts her and he respects her hell, according to Kate he keeps insisting she’s a _‘queen among humans’_ and that as such he’d bound and determined to treat her like a female wraith. I may not trust him with my life or anyone else’s, but I do trust him with hers.”

Then, before anyone could say anything, Lorne turned on his heel and left leaving both Teyla and Ronon behind him slack jawed and speechless. Rodney, on the other hand, was less surprised and decided to follow the major from the gate room on his way to the infirmary. The other two, meanwhile, were rooted to the spot each contemplating the connotations behind Major Lorne’s revelation. Neither knew what to say or how to react; there was nothing _to_ say. Looking at each other they both knew instinctively that this was not the last they would hear of this. If Todd truly saw Kate as a queen then that meant he saw her as an equal and a human that was considered the equal of a wraith wasn’t something these stars had ever seen. It was a concept that was completely new and new did not always mean better.

On this, only time would tell…

~xXx~

Despite Lorne’s instructions, Kate knew that explaining what she was doing there was a hassle they just couldn’t afford right now. She’d stayed with him the entire time they’d been on his hive but, when it came time to go to the other hive, Kate decided to stay in the jumper. It was cloaked of course, carefully hidden in some shrubbery about a mile from the grounded hive. Todd’d been gone close to three hours now and she was starting to get just a tad worried. Not that he wouldn’t come back but that maybe something had happened. It was times like these she wished he carried a radio or that she could still communicate with him telepathically. Right now either would’ve come in real handy.

Outside, a rustling sound caught her attention pulling her eyes to the rear of the jumper. The hatch was open and through it she could see Todd as he appeared through the undergrowth, carrying a pot in one of his hands as he journeyed back to her. She frowned as he got closer and she could see the look on his face. He didn’t look happy. His mouth was set in a hard scowl and she could hear him growling from here. She’s have to ask him what’d happened later but for now she just stood there and waited until he found the jumper and stomped up the ramp into the rear compartment.

Raising an eyebrow, Kate lowered her gaze to the pot. “Is that it?”

With a soft rumble of a growl she wouldn’t have heard if not for her enhanced hearing, he thrust the pot into her hands before brushing past her on his way to the co-pilot’s seat. With a shrug, Kate secured the plant with the molted purple leaves before closing the hatch and then starting the engines. As she began the pre-flight sequence, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye; an expression of worry tugging her mouth downwards.

“Are you okay?”

Fingers flexing in a clear sign of agitation he replied, “I am fine.”

Kate didn’t believe him. “Bullshit. What crawled up your ass and died? You look pissed.”

Todd growled again this time more audibly. “I am fine merely…frustrated.”

Concerned she asked, “About what?”

Brooding in silence, and wanting nothing more than to be left alone, the wraith snarled. He regretted it immediately when he saw her reaction; she frowned and looked away, back stiffening as she piloted the Lantean shuttle into the sky and back towards the gate. A cold and yawning silence descended between them despite the glances Todd sent in her direction, attempting silently to convey his apologies. It might have worked if Katherine would but look at him but she refused. He sighed heavily, knowing he this could not go on. He had not meant to be so short with her.

“Forgive me,” he said at length, making one last attempt to catch her gaze. “I did not mean…I should not have –”

“What did the queen want?”

Frowning, he cocked his head to the side expression inviting her to explain.

She glanced at him, briefly but it was a glance. For a hair’s breadth of a second her eyes had finally met his. “Queens don’t strike me as the type of people that give out freebies so, what’d she want?”

Since the price the queen had demanded was also the reason for his rather abrasive humor, Todd was hesitant to reply. Eventually though, he capitulated, giving her the answer he knew she sought, “Release.”

With a quirk of her eyebrow, Kate finally looked at him. “Shouldn’t that _improve_ your mood?”

“Ideally yes, however…” he trailed off, extremely unhappy to have admitted even this much. He did not want Katherine to think of him as weak, someone who lacked control, and yet she was still awaiting an explanation. He owed it to her given his earlier outburst. And Todd paid his debts. “Mutual reciprocity is not always a guarantee with my kind. It is a male’s duty to provide pleasure for the female not the other way around. You will forgive me if my temper is somewhat short.”

Aghast, Kate stared. “You mean she made you…and then kicked you out…” She shook her head. Yes she could see how that might frustrate him. Anybody was allowed to be in a bad mood after that. “Shit that sucks. Just…hang in there ‘til we get back to Atlantis then you can take of the problem yourself.”

His face registered surprise. And non-comprehension, “To what are you referring?”

Thinking maybe he was hung up on the terminology Kate tired again. When he _still_ didn’t seem to get it she realized it wasn’t because he didn’t understand but because he had no idea what she was talking about. “Seriously?” she asked, giving him a guarded look full of skepticism. How could he not know? He was over ten thousand years old for Christ’s sake.

Todd’s eyes narrowed, his confusion becoming more evident as he cocked his head back in the other direction.

With an exasperated sigh Kate felt herself go red before trying her best to explain it to him. Through a series of hand gestures she was able to get the point across. When she saw his eyes widen she knew he understood. Predictably her face turned an even darker shade of red.

Todd, on the other hand, was frowning. “Self-gratification is considered a weakness amongst wraith, control is much more prized. Males are counseled from a very young age on ways to surpass or mask their desire if it has no outlet. And of course, our females –”

 “– Get to just pick yeah, I remember that part.” She licked her lips, cheeks still burning over the revelation that the wraith, as a species, didn’t know what jacking off meant, “Unfortunately for us humans we don’t have that kind of herculean self-control. Rather than suffer the tension we just do it ourselves. Saves time, makes everyone feel better…”

Todd was watching her, the expression on his face indicative of someone contemplating something they’d never before considered. “What?” she asked.

“Do you ever reply on such methods?”

Kate’s face turned red again. “I…sometimes…”

He looked like he was having a hard time believing it. “I know your society functions differently than ours but surely a desirable female such as yourself is not lacking for opportunities to – ”

“Over protective big brothers are a wonderful deterrent and contrary to popular belief, the whole wonder woman thing isn’t as big a turn on to guys as they’d everyone to think.”

“So you do not have many opportunities – ”

“Can we maybe not talk about this anymore?” Kate snapped, cutting him off before he could finish telling her what she already knew. “Let’s just get back to the city,” she mumbled, her hands gripping the flight controls so tightly her knuckles turned white. “If you still wanna talk about this later then we can but, for now just shut up.”

Frowning, Todd continued to look at her but, in compliance, refrained from commenting. His mind however, would not let him rest and he would continue to think on this for some time.

Neither spoke the rest of the flight.

~xXx~

When John Sheppard finally opened his eyes he found himself still in the infirmary but no longer in isolation. Instead he was in one of the regular beds, no longer tied down and with a mind blessedly free of anyone’s thoughts but his own.

Thank God.

“How’re you feeling?”

He half rose; eyes traveling to the foot of his bed were Atlantis’ director stood watching him. “When’d you get back?”

“Nearly four days ago,” Woolsey replied. “You’ll be pleased to know the Coalition has decided it would rather work with us then against us. I’ll be going back sometime later this month in order to begin negotiating a treaty.”

“That’s…that’s good right?” He groaned, still not quite back to one hundred percent. More like sixty. “What happened?”

Taking a step forwards Woolsey came closer to the colonel’s beside, hands folded primly at his back. “From what I’ve been given to understand you contracted a rare disease after being bitten by some kind of flying insect –”

“I hate bugs.”

“– The insect ws carring a parasite and the parasite, after making its way to your brain, began activating the inactive portions in order to create more electric activity which it then fed upon.”

John made a face. “Is that why I could read minds?”

“We think so although, we don’t know for certain. There was no mention of that particular symptom anywhere in the record we pulled from the archives but Major Sheppard seems to think it might have something to do with you having the ATA gene.”

“Gotta love that ATA gene.”

Woolsey hummed, inching closer. He wondered if it was too soon to tell the colonel to whom he owed his life. Jennifer had warned him not to rile up her patient and as much as he wanted to give the man time to recover, they needed to address this. He’d already waited too long as it is.

“You owe Todd your life.”

Sheppard blinked at him. “I’m sorry, I owe who what now?”

The director sighed. “I know why you called him here and I also know what you threatened him with in order to get him to agree. It stops now Colonel. What happens between Todd and Major Sheppard is none of your concern and it will continue to be none of your concern for as long as their relationship persists.”

Scowling, John sat bolt upright glaring contemptuously at the former IOA bureaucrat. “Like hell it’s none of my concern!” he shouted, “And they don’t _have_ a relationship!”

“Telling yourself something isn’t true doesn’t make it go away. They do have a relationship, a professional relationship but a relationship nonetheless. Todd respects her and trusts her, enough he’s willing to bring her into his confidence and make her an official part of his alliance.”

John sputtered. “What the hell does that mean!?!”

Woolsey sighed. “It means Major Sheppard is about to have access to Todd’s entire intelligence network plus any other information she would want. It’s not an opportunity we can afford to pass up. The IOA, the SGC, they all agree that this is what we need to do and if you interfere with that then there will be consequences. Don’t make me replace you because, if you pull a stunt like this again, that’s exactly what I’ve been authorized to do.”

John glared and for a moment neither moved. It was Woolsey who looked away first, turning his back on the colonel as he took his leave. In his wake, Sheppard stared after him wondering if he really meant what he said or if it was a bluff in order to force him into taking a step back. Either way it worked and John realized that unless he wanted to be permanently removed from the equation, he was gonna have to start playing it safe. It was time to start thinking about playing the long game.

With Woolsey gone, McKay’s wife came over and gave him one final check-up before announcing he was free to go. Getting dressed, John made his way down to the mess hall in search of his team and maybe Lorne. When he arrived he found no trace of Ronon or Teyla and he knew from Jennifer that Rodney was a sleep and not to be disturbed. He did however find his sister, Lorne, Cadman and Vega alone at their very own table along with another person he would’ve thought for sure would be gone by now.

He headed over. “The hell are you still doing here?”

“Sheppard,” the wraith greeted cordially, bowing his head. “I trust you are feeling better?”

The human glared at him. “Peachy, now answer the question. What’re you still doing here?”

Spreading his hands, Todd passed them over the table as if indicating the humans and their lunch trays on either side of him. “I was invited to share a meal and graciously accepted.”

John snorted. “I’ve never seen you graciously accept anything in my life.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised Sir,” retorted Vega, kicking out one of the empty chairs so he could sit. “He’s been here almost a week and, so far, he’s been the perfect gentleman.”

“’Gentleman’s stretching it but you’re right, over all he’s been very well behaved,” Kate said, tossing the wraith next to her a wide grin. “He didn’t even hog the popcorn.”

“That is because I did not consume any of the popcorn,” Todd reminded her. “You had me hold it simply because I had the misfortunate to be sitting in the middle.”

“The middle of what?” asked John. A sinking feeling told him he wasn’t going to like the answer.

“Kate’s couch,” Cadman explained. “We had a marathon, all three _‘Lord of the Rings’_ followed by  _‘Indiana Jones’_ , _‘Star Wars’_ , both _‘Transformers’_ and all three _‘Pirates of the Caribbean’_.  He’s now chock full of cultural references we no longer have to explain to him.”

“Yes,” the wraith agreed, “I now know what a lightsaber is and why it was so amusing for you to inquire as to why all the rum was gone during our card game.”

Hopelessly lost, John could do little more than sit there and blink. “You…what about your hive?”

“I have been receiving updates. The repairs are being made much more quickly than I had anticipated. We should be able to return to normal flight operations soon.”

“I…well, that’s good right?” John said, unsure of what else to say. The table quickly descended into an awkward silence broken only when Cadman asked Kate if she was planning on trying again with Phoenix.

“Naw,” she said, “I think that boat’s sailed. Besides, it was pointed out to me that it probably wouldn’t have been very good in the first place. I think I’ll keep looking.”

Vega snorted. “Yeah, and in the meantime, bob’s gonna get one hell of a workout.”

The women all exchanged sly looks while the men, all three of them, squinted in confusion. “Who’s Bob?” asked Lorne.

“Battery operated boyfriend,” Cadman supplied, ticking off each word on one of her fingers. She grinned, “It’s a fancy way of talking about a – ”

“Yeah, we get it,” John snapped, looking anywhere but at his sister. If he had though, he would have seen her looking determinedly at the table while Todd tried his very best to stare a hole straight into the side of her skull. His eyes were piercing, as though just by looking at her he could convey some kind of message.

Problem was he was succeeding. Kate knew damned well what that look meant having covered the topic at length upon their return to Atlantis. Apparently when she’d said they could talk about it later, Todd’d taken her at her word. What followed had been a very awkward conversation centered on the differences between wraith and human sexuality. In wraith culture a female was applauded for having the sexual attention of multiple males and the more partners she had the better. In other words, the exact opposite of how it worked in most human societies. Todd seemed to have trouble grasping this, more so as it related to her, and had repeatedly suggested she look elsewhere for opportunities if none existed within the boundaries of her own culture. She’d tried telling him the argument was a moot point, that even if she were to take him up on it her reputation would still be ruined; probably beyond repair as his suggestion involved sleeping with multiple wraith. Todd’s reply had been that if quantity was the problem she should choose a single male, worthy of her attentions, and have him provide her service whenever she wanted it.

It was at this point Kate’d turned bright red and decided they were done having this conversation, quickly changing the subject from sex to something much more mundane. It was obvious though, Todd wasn’t as done with the discussion as she was. He kept making comments, remarks, every hour or so until eventually Kate’d told him she wasn’t going to just throw out everything _she’d_ ever been taught about self-respect just because it didn’t mesh with _his_ culture’s ideas. She’d also told him her rule about one-night stands and sleeping with people she didn’t know and didn’t have at least a basic respect for. The wraith had then hesitated, his entire face speculative, as though he were deliberating something, before opening his mouth to – Kate suspected – offer himself. She’d left before he could get anything out, retreating to the mess hall in an act of self-preservation. Todd’d followed and here they sat, the wraith doing his damnedest to stare a hole into the side of her head.

Kate wished he’d stop; at this point all he was doing was making her uncomfortable. She’d barely admitted to liking him and yeah, if things kept going along as they had been that like might turn into something else but she wasn’t there yet. She wasn’t even entirely sure she found him attractive, at least from the neck up. His face with its sharp cheekbones, prominent brow ridges, alien eyes and those sensory pit things definitely weren’t her cup of tea. The tattoo was nice and the rest of him was certainly drool worthy once you got over the fact he was green. All that still didn’t add up to her jumping in bed with him and even if she could see herself doing it sometime in the future, that future was a long ways off.

In the meantime, she decided to ignore him which was easier said than done. Unless you were her brother who, thank God, remained oblivious. The same could not be said of Alicia Vega; or Laura Cadman. Both women caught the expression on the wraith’s face as well as the look of forced disinterest on hers. Neither made a comment aware that doing so would only succeed in setting John off again and they’d _just_ managed to get that bag of worms closed. Kate was eternally grateful Lorne choose that moment to change the subject, the new topic – Atlantis’ new pastry chef – keeping all mentions of sex off the table for least thirty minutes. By the time someone brought it up again, this time it was Vega, Kate decided Todd had officially outstayed his welcome and it was time to go.

Offering to walk him to the gate, the wraith stood and then held out his hand in a very court-like gesture that had Sheppard, Lorne and Cadman’s eyebrows almost disappearing into their hairlines. Vega on the other hand, caught both the challenge in Todd’s eyes as well as the blush creeping up the back of Kate’s neck as she defiantly slid her hand into his and then let the wraith escort her out of the cafeteria.

A quick look at Cadman confirmed she’d seen it too while a glance in the colonel and Lorne’s direction proved they’d missed it. That was probably for the best, all things considered. Something was definitely going on and maybe, just maybe, Colonel Sheppard might have something he needed to be worried about after all.

 


	9. Lost in Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On a trip to talk about moving forwards with the gene therapy, Sheppard and his team are accidentally stranded on Todd's hive for two weeks. Things are about to get very interesting...

**Episode IX: Lost in Space**

“Are you absolutely _sure_ this is a good idea?”

“Yes Rodney, we’ve covered this.”

“But what if –”

“It’s not like last time, last time we were flying blind. This time we got to test it.”

“Yes but –”

“The IOA’s still convinced this is the best way to go, it’s the only thing they all agree on. We’re doing it, end of discussion.”

“Yes well, you’ll forgive me if I’m still not sold on the idea of –”

“It’s not up to you!”

“I know, but –”

Sheppard rolled his eyes and, with a look, silenced his teammate before he could finish talking. They’d been at it for over an hour, he and Rodney going back and forth about the wisdom behind giving the gene therapy another go. He hadn’t been lying; the IOA still considered it their best chance of getting rid of the wraith or at least making them less of a threat. In the past year the doc and her team had made considerable progress in determining what’d gone wrong most of which was a result of Todd’s unwitting participation – during the city’s sojourn on Earth over a year ago, half the things they’d done to him were to better understand why the treatment had failed. Having fresh samples of everything from tissue to blood had gone a long way so much so that as soon as they had a working prototype, Jennifer had felt confident enough to test it on a live subject. They’d talked to Todd or, rather, Kate’d talked to Todd and after a lengthy discussion between her, him and Mr. Woolsey, he’d agreed to let them barrow one of his junior officers as a test subject. A month in and all signs pointed to the trial as being a success so here they were, on their way to talk to him about going forwards now they knew nothing was going to go wrong.

At least, that was the plan. Whether or not the wraith agreed really depended on how charitable he was feeling at any given time. He hadn’t seemed real thrilled when they’d called to set up the meeting, agreeing only reluctantly after Mr. Woolsey assured him Kate would be present during the negotiations. And that was another problem; John’s sister was even less on board with the plan then her alien counterpart. She seemed to think they were being premature, rushing ahead in order to please the IOA without first obtaining enough evidence. It didn’t matter anyway because, despite the fact they were no longer being funded by the International Oversite Advisory, they still had to follow their direction. It sucked but they had to follow orders and Kate’s specific orders were to secure Todd’s compliance using any means necessary.

John was half surprised they hadn’t ordered her to sleep with him, which was apparently something they’d done before.  He couldn’t remember how the conversation had come up but recalled having felt particularly ill when Kate’d mentioned ‘seduce and destroy’ as being one of Storm’s favorite go-to tactics. Thank God Woolsey had decided _not_ to include some of their more recent discoveries about the wraith in any of their official reports. As far as the IOA was concerned Todd still just _looked_ male.

“So are we really doing this?” Ronon asked, the hive suddenly appearing as a tiny speck in the far distance. “Again?”

“Yes, again,” John answered, hands gripping the controls as he adjusted their heading just a touch. “We’ve been over this, haven’t you been listening for the past hour?”

Ronon grunted and leaned back in his chair, scowling as he crossed his arms. “I still think it’s a waste of time. We should be focusing on better ways to kill them, not fix them.”

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Kate snorted, looking down on him. She was standing in the doorway between the rear compartment and the front, “You lemme know how that works out.”

The Setedan glared at her.

“Alright kids, that’s enough,” Sheppard scolded, putting an end to the argument before it could start. The last thing they needed right now was a fight, Ronon and Kate could have at each other after they got back to the city. “I think this is one of times you’re just gonna have to agree to disagree.”

Still glaring, Ronon looked away while Kate shrugged and went to sit in the rear compartment. She glanced at Jennifer, the doctor even less happy to be there then she was. Her job was to show Todd the test results and hope they’d be enough to convince him to move on to the next step. Personally she hoped they wouldn’t because in her medical opinion, especially considering what’d happened last time, the results, while promising, weren’t nearly promising enough to justify what the IOA was asking them to do. At the same time, the alternative to not moving forwards was worse; she could either agree to advance the treatment or stop researching altogether which she half believed was what Storm actually wanted.

By now they’d reached the hive and entered the forward dart bay, circling the landing platform once before touching down and filing off. Todd was nowhere to be seen; instead they found Kenny and a squad of drones. The wraith’s eyes moved slowly over each of them, pausing briefly on Kate. She stared back at him, one eyebrow raised in silent challenge as if daring him to say something. His lip curled, pulling back into an ugly sneer before he turned and barked at them to follow.

They were led to an antechamber just off the bridge, one the Commander had had specifically outfitted in order to put the humans more at east. Kenny didn’t know why he bothered; they certainly never went through such trouble for him. Still, whatever the Commander ordered it was his duty to obey and so he did, escorting Sheppard and his team to the chamber where he made sure they were comfortable before taking his leave and returning to the bridge.

“Bye!” called Sheppard glibly, waving mockingly at the wraith’s back as he, his teammates and his sister took their seats around the by now familiar table. It seemed more sparsely decorated than usual lacking both candles and goblets but not the fruit bowl which sat almost mockingly at its center.

John frowned at the mere sight of it.

“Ah, Sheppard.”

In unison, the six of them turned, finding their host standing in the doorway with the returned Kenny hovering behind him looking distinctly like he didn’t want to be there. If Todd knew he ignored it, scanning the room with sharp, yellow eyes that flicked briefly over each of them before settling on the human closest to him.

He acknowledged her with nod. “Katherine.”

“Lord Commander,” she replied, smirking up at him.

The wraith gave a satisfied hiss before seating himself directly to her left at the tables’ foot, silently commanding his second to remain standing as his eyes slid down the table’s length to Sheppard who was seated opposite him. The human was glaring for all he was worth no doubt displeased by the exchange between he and his sister. With a grunt of amusement, he gestured for the colonel to begin.

Immediately John turned to the doc. “Jenn?”

Inhaling a deep breath, Jennifer braced herself for rejection before launching into a summary of the latest test results, tactfully reminding him of the need to slow everything down because moving too fast is where things started to go wrong last time. As she explained the details of the series of progressive treatments she’d developed, designed to individually activate the different parts of the digestive system one by one, Todd had begun to nod. Relieved, she pressed on citing how, as a result, it was difficult to tell whether the treatment worked this early in the game; the only way to be certain was to move to the next step.   

Todd didn’t agree. “I admit, the test is progressing well but it is still too soon to declare victory. A month’s time is not enough.”

John scoffed. “Last time there was trouble after six days. How much more time do you need!?!”

“As much as is needed to be sure no harm with come to those who allow themselves to be inoculated,” the wraith replied. “When last we tried this we both behaved recklessly, so eager to proclaim the treatment a success we pushed forwards on but a handful of inconclusive results. I will not make that mistake again, not and risk the lives of my crew.”

Colonel Sheppard made a face. “You’re making it sound like what happened last time was our fault.” His eyes narrowed, “You’re the one who stole part of the formula and decided to test it out on your hive. _We_ didn’t do that so I don’t see –”

“If you had not betrayed me I would have had no need to steal it,” Todd reminded him. “As that was the case, I had no choice but to – ”

“We didn’t betray you!” John snapped, rising half out of his chair as he hit the table with an open hand.  “It was the damned Asgard. You however; stole our ship and tried to kill everyone on board!”

“When I took command, I had no intention of destroying your vessel. If the runner had not behaved so recklessly by obliterating the weapons system I would not have had to resort to such measures!”

Before he could argue, Sheppard was cut off by his sister’s yell.

“Oh for God’s sake, enough!” she shouted, glaring first at her brother and then Todd, neither of whom were stupid enough argue with her. She took a breath, “Okay look, what happened with the Daedalus was pretty much a comedy of errors for everyone involved. Neither of you handled it well, you withheld vital information from each other and reacted poorly which predictably led to everything going sideways and blowing up in your collective faces. Now, can we please move on and get back to the matter at hand!?!”

Her elder brother looked downright petulant. “ _I_ didn’t start it, he – ”

“Johnathan Sheppard I will shoot you. You’re forty years old, act like it.” She turned to Todd, “Continue.”

Stifling a grin, the wraith picked up where he’d left off. “As I was saying, until I am certain this treatment offers no ill effects I cannot subject my wraith to a course of action that may well lead to their deaths. We need more time.”

Ronon rolled his eyes. “You’ve never cared this much about your wraith before,” he objected. “I think you’re just looking for an excuse.”

Todd’s lip curled. “It is not an excuse that I care for the lives of those under my command.”

“Oh please,” Rodney argued, “When your hive blew up above Atlantis, back when you first came to us about the replicators, it’s like you didn’t even care. You were more upset about us not trusting you than –”

“And what would you have had me do doctor, weep for their loss?” The commander sneered, “If I had done that you would have either dismissed my remorse or accused me of falsifying it in order to garner sympathy.” His eyes narrowed, “Even now, you sit there believing me incapable of compassion when it is my compassion which allows you to sit there at all. What makes you think I care for my kind any less then you care for yours?”

The scientist let out a terrified squeak.

Ronon was less deterred. “You seem perfectly happy killin’ other wraith so long as they’re not part of your alliance,” he deadpanned. “Explain that.”

The wraith growled at him. “And in the entire history of your people you have never gone to war with an opposing faction? Correct me if I am wrong, but some two hundred years ago was there not a civil war on your homeworld? Tell me, how many brothers did your people kill during that conflict?”

Ronon snarled.

Colonel Sheppard shot his friend a look of sympathy. “I think he’s got you there,” he mumbled, clearing his throat as he looked back down towards the end of the table. “But Chewie’s right, you’ve never put up this kind of fuss about your crew before. Forgive us if we’re a bit skeptical. I still don’t see –”

“If our positions were reversed would you be as willing to take such a risk with your people’s lives as you seem to want me to take with mine?”

John sighed, his answer a resounding ‘no’ after only a few seconds consideration. Truth was, if he were in Todd’s position, he wouldn’t have even listened to the proposal; he would’ve said no on the phone. “I –”

“There’s more going on here than meets the eye.”

Confused, the entire table turned to look at Kate. “What are you talking about?” Rodney asked, “Whataya mean there’s more going on then –”

“Shut up and I’ll tell you,” she snapped, eyes roving the room. She’d stayed quiet as long as she could; having only been given authorization to disclose the truth if all else failed. And since her brother absolutely sucked at getting Todd to agree to anything – unless he was cheating – Kate didn’t see how she had any other choice.

“So here’s the thing,” she began, grey eyes coming to rest on Todd the wraith, “Me, Woolsey and the doc here all happen to agree with you –”

“What!?” McKay exclaimed, looking first to her and then his wife. “Since when –”

“One more word and I swear, I’ll shove my foot so far up your ass my boot laces’ll come out your nose!” Kate yelled.

With a whimper, the Canadian fell quiet allowing her to continue. “Now, as I was saying, the three of us agree with you. The only reason we’re here is because Carl fucking Storm wants Atlantis brought back to Earth and thinks this is the way to make it happen. In other words, we’re being played.” 

Teyla shook her head. “I do not understand, how does whether or not Todd agrees to the gene therapy accomplish this? There is no possible way the two are connected.”

Kate snorted. “Wanna bet?” She turned to Jennifer, “Hey Doc, what’d Woolsey tell you would happen if Todd said no?”

Her friend frowned. “He said the IOA would shut down the project.”

“And do what?”

The doctor winced. “Now see…that’s the part I don’t understand. From the way Woolsey was talking he made it sound like Storm wants us to bring back the old version. Which doesn’t make any sense –”

“It makes perfect sense,” Kate explained. “The only thing holding us here is Todd’s support – don’t look at me that way, you know damned well it’s true. Without it we’re dead in the water so Storm, in all his manipulative, sneaky glory, sent us here hoping for a no which he can then use as justification to turn the original version of the therapy into a chemical weapon.”

“In which case the terms of our alliance will be broken and I will pull my support,” Todd surmised thinking the human’s plan, while duplicitous, rather well done all things considered. It was something he might do if their situation were ever to reverse. “You would be forced to abandon the city or take it with you upon your retreat.”

“Which is exactly what Storm wants.” Sheppard sighed, rubbing his hands over his face in a show of ultimate frustration. “He doesn’t care who he screws over or how many people will die so long as he gets what he wants.”

“Which is why you’ve gotta give us something,” said Kate, expression desperate as she turned to look at Todd. “If you don’t, Storm wins and personally, I don’t want that bastard winning anything.”

“Nor do I,” he agreed, double tones pitched low. He could not stand the deceitful leader of the human organization in charge of overseeing Atlantis. In his mind Carl Storm was the embodiment of all the repugnant traits humans, as a species, possessed. And he had the ability, so it seemed, to display them all at once. It was a comfort to know Mr. Woolsey, whose mind Todd had begrudgingly come to respect, had not been fooled. Nor had Katherine. This is why he had insisted upon her attendance at this meeting. She, like Woolsey, understood the incredibly intricate games politicians played; be they human or otherwise.

“Then, if that is the case, I suppose I could –”

The floor began to shake, cutting off whatever else Todd might have said and, within moments, the entire room seemed to be vibrating.

Sheppard yelled – “What the hell!?!” – and clutched the table as the whole hive began to shudder.

Then, suddenly, everything began to tilt, listing dangerously to the right. The table began to slide, everyone scrambling to get out of the way. The ship lurched again, shaking so violently they were thrown sideways before another shake angled everything forwards. John flailed, stabilizing himself by holding onto the wall. Ronon and Teyla were able to do the same, Jennifer clung to her husband. The table tipped, crashing onto its side where it began to roll, breaking apart as it went, headed straight for Kate. John screamed his sister’s name; Todd reached out and grabbed her. The hive shook again, orienting itself to its original position, the lights went out and then, as suddenly as it had come, the shaking stopped and all was still.

With a groan, Sheppard rolled over and opened his eyes to the semi-darkness of the surrounding room. The only light was coming down from the ceiling, an eerie mixture of orange and purple that didn’t exactly settle his nerves. He heard a moan and, realizing it was coming from under him, pushed himself up and found Rodney. One down, four to go. Immediately his thoughts ran to his sister.

“Kate?” he called.

There was no answer. Pulling himself to his feet he looked around, blinking his eyes as they adjusted to the prevailing darkness. He didn’t see her, not a single sign. He didn’t see Todd either and, for once, prayed the two of them were together.

With one hand, he braced himself against the wall.  “Everyone okay?” he asked loudly, “Sound off so I know you’re not dead.”

“We’re fine,” Ronon responded, reaching out to help Jennifer to her feet. “Me and the doc.”

“Teyla?”

“I am fine John,” she said, cradling her head as she moved into a sitting position.

He looked down. “Rodney?”

The scientist glared up at him. “Of course I’m not okay!” he complained stridently, “You fell on top of me.”

“You’ll live.” John looked around the room again, frowning when he still saw no sign of his sister or their host. “Kate?” he called a second time, “Todd? Dammit somebody answer me!”

In response to Sheppard’s yell, out in the corridor, Todd’s eyes snapped open. He was on his back having been thrown to the ground in the hive’s final shift. There was a weight atop him, something warm and pleasant if slightly angular and hard. Glancing down, he realized the weight was an unconscious Katherine.

“Kate!” He heard Sheppard shout again, with urgency this time, worry penetrating his tone, “Ka -”

“She is here, Colonel,” he responded, shifting so as to carefully ease her off him. Gently, he laid her on the floor just as her brother and his second arrived in the doorway. The table had splintered and turned on its side, baring the exit so they could not be joined. Looking up Todd caught the look of concern on the human’s face.

“Is she –”

“She is unharmed, simply stunned,” Todd replied, kneeling at her side as he made to pick her up. Above him, Sheppard made a choking sound but abstained from commenting for which he was grateful. He was in no mood for one of the human’s lectures. “If you will permit me, I will take her to the medical bay.”

Loath as he was to let Todd take Kate anywhere, especially if she was unconscious, John still recognized it as a good idea. “Yeah, I guess you can –”

He was saved having to answer when Kate groaned, cutting him off as she woke, her entire body going stiff with the realization she was being held. “What the –” she looked around, immediately catching sight of white hair, green skin and yellow eyes. Todd. “Ah…” she stammered, “You can put me down now.”

The wraith hesitated. “You are certain? I am more than capable of –”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” she insisted. “I’m fine, really.”

“You heard the woman,” Sheppard snapped, glaring daggers at the alien still holding his sister. “Drop her.”

Begrudgingly, Todd complied; lowering Katherine’s feet to the floor, his arms loosening from around her. She swayed, instinctively bracing herself by placing a hand at his chest while her other tightly gripped his arm. Todd hissed in worry, emitting a purring sound which was intended to comfort.

The colonel’s eyes darkened. “What are you, a cat? Let her go or I’ll –”

“You will what, Sheppard?” the wraith challenged, yellow eyes narrowed dangerously.

Biting back a retort, John decided to let the matter go, clearing his throat as he changed the subject.  “So what the hell happened?” he asked, eyes trained on his sister as she finally drew away from Todd. Behind him, he could sense his team eager to know as well.

“I do not know,” Todd confessed, growling softly at the loss of warmth as Katherine’s hand left him, “More than likely something to do with the engines.”

“Maybe you should go check on that.”

“Indeed,” he hissed, turning back to Katherine. “You are certain you require no medical attention?”

She nodded. “Yeah I’m…I’m fine.”

Unconvinced and rather under the impression she was attempting bravery purely for her brother’s sake, Todd nonetheless found himself nodding along with her words. “Very well then,” he turned to Sheppard, “Remain here. I will investigate and then return to you once I have answers.”

"You do that," John replied, standing back so Kenny and a recovered Ronon could shove half the broken table out of the way. The wraith took his exit, following his commander down the hall while the human wasted no time grabbing his sister and pulling her back into the room.

“Hey Doc,” he called, half dragging her over to where the doctor was busy putting a pink Band-Aid on her husband’s head, “I think Kate’s got a concussion…”

~xXx~

Todd returned less than an hour later followed closely by a second wraith none of them ever seen to confirm, much to their collective disappointment, there was indeed something wrong with the engines and that, as a result, they were now stuck.

Ronon was probably the least happy: the engines were shot, the hyperdrive was offline, both main thrusters were on the fritz and according to Todd’s navigator, they were at least sixteen days away from the nearest gate. That last one had required some clarification: whatever malfunction had crippled the ship had started with an unauthorized hyperspace jump. Todd had no idea who had done it but had sent Kenny to go find out. It didn’t matter anyway because, as John understood it, no hyperdrive and no engines combined with being so far away from a working gate meant they were stranded.

On a wraith hive ship.

Surrounded by wraith.

Alone.

With Todd.

For the next two weeks.

“What the hell are we supposed to do on a hive for _two_ weeks!?!?” Rodney demanded looking utterly horrified. “I mean, can you – how are we –”

“As long as you are not a hindrance, I do not care what you do,” Todd replied, suppressing the urge to roll his eyes. “However; as you no doubt would like to leave as soon as possible, perhaps you would consent to helping with the repairs.”

The Canadian deflated. "Oh, well I…o-okay."

With a dry hiss Todd turned and waved a hand, gesturing the strange wraith to come forwards. “This is my hive’s my chief handler, it is his job to see to the affairs of those humans which reside on my ship –”

“What humans?” demanded Sheppard, “The ones you eat?”

“Our worshipers; there are usually several dozen if not more on every hive. Surely you have encountered them before?”

John shook his head. “Ah, not exactly. I know you guys have ‘em but I didn’t know they _lived_ with you.”

The handler scowled. “They do not live _with_ us – their society runs parallel to our own. They exist to serve us in whatever capacity we desire.”

“Which is what?” John asked, voice cutting. He had a bad feeling about this.

“Nothing so bad as I am sure you are imagining,” Todd replied, quick to answer before his subordinate could give more of the truth then his allies were ready to hear. All but Katharine were sure to take offense and he did not have time to argue with them. “They serve us in various ways, seeing to the needs of the hive. Most are dedicated to maintaining a certain level of cleanliness and functionality. A small number see to the more personal needs of me and my officers.”

Sheppard’s eyes went wide. Ronon’s narrowed, “Really? And what does that mean?”

Seeing Todd stiffen, Kate decided to intercede. “I’m guessing maybe something like a valet crossed with a maid?” She glanced at the wraith, a smirk playing at the corners of her mouth, “Somehow I don’t see you guys as the type to do your own laundry.”

“Indeed not,” the handler agreed, sensing his commander’s appreciation for the female’s interjection. He was not exactly trying to hide it, how peculiar. “That is what worshipers are for.”

“Which is why, if you desire something to do, you may join them in their tasks or, if you feel it beneath you, you may confine yourselves to your rooms or the worshiper’s hall,” Todd explained. “Either way, I expect you to conduct yourselves in an appropriate manner, mindful of the fact you are not the ones in control now. This is my ship and while I know the situation is less than ideal, as you are constantly telling me, you will have to…suck it up and deal with it.”

Frowning, none of them except Kate finding it the least bit humorous Todd was using their idioms; they were unceremoniously left in the care of the handler while their ally retreated to the bridge. Left no other choice, they followed the stranger down the hall to an elevator – which, unsurprisingly, nobody except Kate knew hives even had – and finally to a narrow corridor lined with doors. They were told these were their rooms before the handler abruptly ushered them to the end of the hall, through a narrow passageway and then a set of doors before coming out into a large room with a high ceiling and what looked like a swimming pool. The pool, roughly kidney shaped and filled with steaming, green-tinted water, was as it turned out actually a bathtub, a huge bathtub that reminded John of a diorama he’d once seen of an ancient roman bath. He made mental note to come up with a schedule so not everyone used it at once. There were just some parts of his sister, and Rodney’s wife, he never wanted to see. Teyla he’d seen before, by accident, and Rodney would probably insist on bathing alone while someone stood guard.

What he wouldn’t give right now for a shower stall with a door. The handler was walking again, growling at them to follow so, leaving his contemplations behind, the colonel hurried to catch up. They were led to a small chamber just off the main bathing one which turned out to be a lavatory and beyond that, through another narrow hallway, there was an even larger room filled with long tables; obviously the worshiper’s hall. It was mostly empty save for a few groups of women brandishing sewing needles, all of whom looked up at their entrance, eyes wide and questioning. John frowned when he realized every single one of them were wearing dresses that, while not _actually_ see-through, were certainly sheer enough to display their finer attributes.

And none of them seemed to be wearing a bra. _Maids my ass_ , he thought wryly, the next time he saw Todd the wraith had some serious explaining to do.

Before he had time to dwell on it, however, the handler was herding them back the way they’d come, disappearing with a hiss once they’d returned to the corridor outside their rooms. There were six doors, four on one side of the hallway and two on the other. A short round of investigation proved each one to be the entrance to a small, Spartan, set of quarters only big enough for one which meant the McKay’s were gonna half to split up. Rodney was less than happy but Jennifer managed to calm him down by telling him they could visit one another. Ronon meanwhile, choose one at random and locked himself inside. Teyla followed suit along with the doctor and still grumbling physicist. Kate disappeared also leaving John standing alone in the middle of a mist filled hallway. With a sigh he entered the last available room and plopped himself down on the spongy, weird feeling mattress.

As tired as he was, it was hours before he was able to get to sleep.

~xXx~

For the next several days Todd was so absorbed in discovering the cause of his ship’s malfunction, he had little time to check on the status of his human allies. As he had yet to hear of any incidents, he assumed they were settling in and focused his attention on overseeing the repairs. His chief engineer had yet to locate the source of the problem but suspected it must be from residual damage still remaining from their last battle. It was his belief something had either been left unrepaired or had been repaired incorrectly thus causing the malfunction. Whether or not this was the case, Todd left instructions to go over each system individually and to keep him informed of any findings. He, meanwhile, returned to the bridge were he began scanning the more recent maintenance logs searching for any inconsistencies his subordinates might have missed.

He was nearly halfway through his self-appointed task when his mind prickled with the encroaching nearness of another, a quick probe ascertaining it was a one of the handlers seeking an audience. He responded with his mind, mental voice booming, ordering the subordinate to approach.

_Speak._

The wraith, who was the lead officer in charge of human affairs, clasped his hands behind his back and cleared his throat, bowing politely as was custom. "Forgive the interruption Commander, but one of the humans - the Atlantians - has been asking questions." He frowned, "Incessantly."

Through narrowed eyes Todd turned, his expression inviting the subordinate officer to elaborate.

In compliance he did so, grey lips curling with disgust as he relayed the numerous and absurd inquiries made by the human female. "She wishes to know of our ranking system, how our castes are assigned and structured as well as how we operate under your command as opposed to how we would operate under the command of a queen." The handler paused; studying his elder whom he had thought for certain would find her questions as ludicrous as he. When no such annoyance came, he dismissed it and continued, "She has also expressed the repeated desire she be allowed to speak with you.”

“Has she?” Todd questioned, reaching out with his mind to determine the identity of the female in question. Although he had a suspicion given the content of the questions, he needed to be sure. His speculation was confirmed as he searched the subordinate’s memories: black hair, grey eyes and a defiant strength that bordered on insolence.

Katherine.

He withdrew, issuing a silent command to have her brought to him before returning his attentions to the terminal. The handler retreated eager to carry out his appointed task while Todd studiously ignored the unspoken curiosities of those around him. Eventually they returned to their tasks working steadily alongside their commander until the handler returned, a single human female trailing him; grey eyes darting back and forth warily.

Shutting down the program, Todd turned to greet her, yellow eyes lightening at the current state of her dress. No doubt barrowed from one of the worshipers the gown she wore was modest in comparison to the majority of their attire, yet still he could see the shadows and curves of her breasts beneath the fabric.

He grinned, mouth pulling back into a lascivious and hungry smirk. “Katherine.”

Coming to a halt in front of him, Kate looked up; her eyes narrowed. “Todd.”

_Leave_ , he instructed the handler, dismissing him with a mental command as he stepped towards the female. “I hear you have been asking questions.”

She crossed her arms. “I have,” she confirmed, “It’s my job remember?”

“I do, yes,” he replied, cocking his head, features tightening with the ghost of a frown. “You are, after all, on a wraith ship. I would not expect you to waste the opportunity. I had thought however, given our agreement, you would save your inquires for me.”

Kate raised an eyebrow. “Jealous?” she asked, only half kidding. When his expression clouded, becoming even more closed off, she couldn’t help but snort, “Yeah, well don’t be, I haven’t got any answers yet. And to be fair, I’ve been asking to see you for four days, every time with the same answer: you’re busy and I’m stupid for even asking.”

Envy fading, the wraith frowned. “You have been insulted?”

She nodded. “Frequently. By both the handlers and the worshipers, especially this one blonde chick.  Apparently me, John and everyone else are on the lowest rung of the totem pole at least as far as your crew’s concerned. And the fact I’m forced to dress like this –” she said, waving a hand over herself, “– really doesn’t help matters.”

He looked down, once again allowing his gaze to penetrate the diaphanous material shrouding her form. “I see nothing wrong with the way you are dressed. Quite the opposite, your outfit is _extremely_ pleasing.”

Kate scoffed. “Well thanks; I’m glad you like it. Unfortunately, so does every other member of your crew. I can’t go anywhere without getting leered at – which John’s pissed at you for by the way. Let’s just say it’s no longer a secret why nearly all your worshipers are women. Maids my ass.”

“I am not the one that came up with that analogy,” Todd reminded her, suddenly disgruntled by the thought of other wraith, an entire hive full of other wraith, sharing his appreciation particularly as there was no way to distinguish her from a worshiper.

He would have to rectify that.

“Come with me.”

Curious, Kate followed him away from the bridge, falling into step beside him as he turned down an adjacent corridor; winding a path away from the command deck to a set of double doors which opened, seemingly of their own accord, when they were still several feet way.  Through them, Kate found herself in an oddly mist-free room roughly square in shape, large with a polished floor and what looked like windows along the far wall. The décor was especially lavish consisting of numerous carpets and a collection of furniture which was obviously not wraith in origin. There was a long table in the middle of the room surrounded by high-backed chairs and an opening off to the right which led to a raised second room through which she thought she saw the foot of a great, nest-like bed.

She turned to face Todd. “Your room?”

He nodded. “My command quarters, yes. I thought you would be more comfortable here than in one of the more populated rest areas. Less chance of undesirable scrutiny.”

“No, just yours,” Kate quipped, watching his eyes as they unabashedly raked her up and down, his face sporting a, by now, familiar expression. “My eyes are up here by the way.”

The wraith looked up, pointed teeth on easy display behind a wide, predatory grin, “My apologies.”

Rolling her eyes, Kate didn’t believe it for a second, “Pervert.”

Amused, Todd turned and waved at her to follow before leading her to a secluded alcove stationed on the far side of his chambers.  The space was partially concealed behind a low wall and contained a seating arrangement in a half circle piled high with blankets and pillows all of which he had handpicked for the nostalgia. He hoped she would find them as pleasing as he did as he instructed her to sit, retreating to his bedroom once she was settled in order to retrieve several viewing screens, a laptop pilfered from the human’s ship and a leather bound book written in Lantean which he had been told she could read. Returning, he presented his offerings along with the explanation that while he had various duties to which he needed to attend, Katherine was more than welcomed to remain here; pursuing answers to those questions which had been denied. 

As he spoke, Kate’s face fell. “Oh,” she mumbled, regretful he didn’t have time to sit and talk. She’d never admit it aloud but in the past four days, she’d actually missed him. “When’ll you be back?”

“That depends,” Todd replied, “The repairs are progressing but my engineers have not, as of yet, been able to locate the cause of the original malfunction.” 

She frowned. “So…you’re going to help them?”

He nodded.

Kate let out a sigh of disappointment.  “I understand. It sucks being in charge. Maybe we can talk later…?”

Her hopefulness was not lost on him and he felt his pulse quicken; happy with the knowledge she wished to spend time with him beyond the obligation of her duty. It wasn’t much but it was a start and that, to him, was something. “If you think your brother can spare your absence, you may remain here until I return. I cannot promise I will be quick but if you wish to wait, perhaps we can discuss that which you have read.” 

Kate smiled despite knowing John would likely have kittens if she weren’t back sometime in the next hour. Oh well, her brother could suck it. “I’d like that.”

“As would I,” Todd replied, nodding to her as he took his leave, locking the doors behind them. They would not open again without his express permission thus insuring the safety of the female inside. On his way to the elevator, he sent out a summons, mentally calling the nearest handler to come and attend him. When he reached the engineering deck he found the same one as before waiting for him.

“How may I serve?” the wraith bowed.

Todd hissed, his voice ringing with the power of his authority. “Katherine is in need of proper clothing, something to distinguish her from the worshipers. I do not want there to be any confusion. For the remainder of her stay none may approach her save me. She is Sheppard’s sister and she is mine. Is that understood?”

“It is, my Commander,” the handler said, bowing a second time as his superior’s command washed over him, igniting in him an image of what would happen should he be disobeyed. “How would you like me to accomplish this? To my knowledge, there is no alternative wardrobe to provide her.”

“That is why you must go to the queen’s chambers.”

Startled, the handler released a sharp hiss of surprise. “You would have her outfitted as though she were queen?”

“Katherine is a queen,” Todd replied, no room for argument in the dual tones of his multi-layered voice. “Amongst humans she is my equal and will be treated as such now go, attend to your task. Bring what you find to my quarters but do not enter them yourself. I expect confirmation when it has been done.”

With a silent nod, the subordinate sketched a more formal bow before leaving his commander’s presence to do as he was told. His footsteps fading, Todd turned on his heel continuing to the engine room where both his second and the chief engineer stood waiting.

He joined them. “You have made progress?”  Both nodded the former handing him a copy of the latest report. Scanning it, Todd released a hiss of satisfaction. “Very good. Now, let us see if we cannot undo this…”

Together all three wraith took their positions and began to work.

~xXx~

While Todd toiled away in the engine room, Kate spent the next several hours translating the book he’d given her from Ancient to English so she could read it. While her mother had insisted she learn it, Latin had never really been her forte and since the Lantean’s language was a derivative – or vice-versa if you were being technical – she always felt more confident with a translation then the original text. An hour in a headache was forming forcing her to take a break. Getting up, she decided to walk around in the hopes it’d go away.

Exploring Todd’s room was an eye opener in more ways than one not least of which was the revelation of how unconcerned he was with cleanliness. Of course, given the Spartan quarters he kept in Atlantis nobody would’ve guessed, but tidiness was obviously not his strong suit. There was stuff piled everywhere along almost every available flat surface and even some not so flat ones. Like his bed. Wandering up the three low, wide steps leading up to the raised bedchamber, Kate found no less than five books of varying size stacked on one side of the unmade bed. There were blankets thrown everywhere and even a pillow on the floor which she stopped to pick up, running her hands over the embroidered imagery of what looked like a stylized Iratus bug.

Huh. Interesting.

Tossing the pillow back onto the bed, she picked her way around it until she got to the head which was backed up against a wall that looked more like a tapestry. It even moved when she touched it but unlike a tapestry, it really was solid. Shrugging, she stepped behind it, following the curved hallway to yet another room which turned out to be half closet and half bathroom.  The pool on the right was much smaller than the one in the communal bathing chamber but still larger than the one she had back in Atlantis. It was about the size of a hot tub and was shaped about the same too. In addition to having a built in seat on one side it apparently had jets in the floor. The other side of the room, meanwhile, had a long rod, several shelves and numerous cubbies in which Todd stored his clothing. There didn’t seem to be a lot of variation in his wardrobe although there certainly was an abundance. Kate wondered if it was a status thing, like the more clothes you had the higher your position was. After fingering several of the coats hung along the bar, running her hands over the leather, she sighed before returning to the couch and her half-finished translation.

Two hours later she was getting frustrated, having barely made it through a quarter of the book. The diction was nearly impossible to follow, almost rambling with it’s perchance to jump subjects mid-paragraph which made translating it into something easy to follow rather difficult. She was getting used to it though, starting to sorta find a rhythm when she heard the door open.  Expecting Todd, she got up, peering around the low half-wall her little alcove was hidden behind only to instead find a worshiper with a box instead of the returning wraith.

She frowned when she realized which worshiper it was – the bitch with the blonde hair who’d apparently decided it was her job to make Kate’s life difficult.  With a sigh of frustration she went back to her book hoping the woman would soon leave. Unfortunately she didn’t. After setting the box on the table, the harpy started to look around tentatively, running her fingers across the tops of tables and chairs as she picked her way around the table towards the bedroom.

It was at that point Kate decided to make her presence known. Clearing her throat, she watched the woman whip around, surprise written all over her face, only to see her and have her eyes narrow.

“What are _you_ doing here!?”

Kate shrugged. “Reading or, at least I was until you came in, and I’d like to go back to it. That means get out.”

The woman’s blue eyes turned nearly black. “You dare presume to give me orders!?! I could have you killed for that.”

Kate snorted, completely unconcerned by woman’s threat. “I’d like to see you try.” Then, because she knew how the game was played and how the worshipers assigned rank, “I’m the one the Hive Commander brought here, not you.”

Nostrils flaring, the woman growled, anger and envy coursing through her with equal measure at how true that statement was. Ever since her arrival the current hive master had rebuffed every attempt to entice him she or any other servant had made; refusing even to allow them entry to his quarters to clean them. To know he’d chosen this newcomer, someone she knew for fact had not yet been touched by one of the masters’ hands, infuriated her. Why had she been chosen, what made her so special as to catch the hive commander’s eye when, before, no other had? What did this woman with black hair and eyes the color of storm clouds possess which she and her sisters did not?

“How dare you –”

The doors opened, parting to reveal the imposing shape of Todd the wraith who, distracted by a report he was reading, didn’t see the two women until he’d taken at least half a dozen steps. When he did see them he froze, yellow eyes surveying the scene, narrowing as they came to rest on the worshiper. 

“I do not believe part of your instructions were to linger.”

Immediately the woman’s attitude changed, becoming subservient as she dropped her gaze and seemed to fold inwards. “Forgive me hive master,” she cooed sweetly, lifting her eyes in order to peer demurely  at him through her lashes, “I simply wanted to make sure it was not a mistake calling for this one when there are others far more suited to provide service. Surely a worshiper with more experience would be perfera –”

“You forget your place,” Todd’s growl silenced her. He stepped forwards, advancing to the point where he was looming over her, glaring down with an expression of deepest loathing. If he thought he could get away with it he would kill this one on the spot for her arrogance but, unfortunately, she was favored. It would not do to anger his officers by taking their favorite plaything away from them.

“Get out.”

With a wail of terror the woman retreated, scurrying backwards, almost tripping over herself in her haste to get away. Once she was gone, Todd allowed himself a calming breath before turning his eyes to Katherine, honestly surprised to see she had waited for him. Although he had hoped she would, given the length of time he had been gone, he had not truly expected her to stay.

“You remain.”

Kate nodded, smoothing down her skirts as she returned to her seat, wiggling a bit in order to get comfortable. “I said I wanted to talk to you. I haven’t seen you in four days.”

Crossing the room, Todd lowered himself to sit across from her, shoulders hunched just slightly as he looked at her. “Given the weeks and months separating my usual visits to your fair city, four days is hardly cause for any great concern.”

His companion shook her head. “But that’s different. I’ve never been told I’m not allowed to see you when we’re in the same place.”

“Ah.” Todd felt his pulse race, fluttering with anxious excitement along his veins. “You have grown used to – what is your phrase? Having me all to yourself?”

Kate sighed.  “That’s not what I meant. What I meant was…yeah okay, I’m used to having your undivided attention but that doesn’t mean…I think you’re reading too much into this.”

Todd failed to agree and despite her insistence, was certain his assumptions were correct. He did not however, want to push her. Such an acknowledgment meant nothing if Katherine refused to accept it and he would only lose ground if he continued to assert he was not mistaken. “As you wish,” he replied with deceptive neutrality. “I only meant to say you find pleasure in my company and object when I cannot give it to you.”

Frustrated, Kate rolled her eyes before shooting him a glare. “That’s still pushing it but for now, I’ll let it slide.” She looked away, actively searching for a change in subject. Her eyes landed on the box blonde-haired-bitch had left on the table. “What’s that?”

“A gift,” Todd explained, following her gaze to the chest he had ordered delivered, having forgotten about it until she reminded him. “You expressed displeasure at having to dress as a worshiper. I found you an alternative.”

Kate was surprised. “Oh. Well that’s…you didn’t have to do that.”

“On the contrary,” he argued, cocking his head, “Your station while aboard this ship has thus far been ambiguous. Hopefully this will rectify that.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Hopefully?”

“Nothing is assured,” he replied, extending a hand as he stood, hissing in pleasure when she accepted it without hesitation. He led her to the table, stepping to the side once they arrived so she could investigate – watching with baited breath as she raised the lid, gasping in surprise as she beheld the contents.

“You are pleased?”

She nodded, eagerly pulling out the dark red dress so she could examine it more closely. It was boat-necked and backless, accented with a wide black leather belt and some kind of web-like lace both across the chest and at the ends of the sleeves. The dress was beautiful, elegant in its simplicity and Kate had a hard time believing it was for her, that she was expected to wear it.

“Where did you find this?” she wanted to know.

The wraith grinned, extremely pleased by the awe evident in her voice. He would not admit it but he had been worried she would not approve. Katherine’s tastes were still mostly a mystery to him, something he planned to correct sometime in the near future. “A small selection from our queen’s wardrobe. It is artifice of course but sometimes such things are needed. I am glad it is to your liking.”

Like a kid at Christmas, Kate clutched the dress to her chest and turned to face him. “Can I put it on?”

Amusement tugging at the corners of his mouth, Todd gestured to the room in open invitation. “Be my guest.”

Her eyes rolled. “Yeah, nice try,” she scolded, stepping around him as she made her way to the raised bedroom. “I’ll be out in a minute. Don’t peek.”

Disappointed, Todd crossed his arms and released a low growl, voicing his displeasure, “You have never bothered to hide yourself from me before. When last I was in Atlantis –”

“– When last you were in Atlantis you lectured me for half an hour on my sex life and why I should consider screwing a wraith,” Kate countered, pausing to pull the barrowed gown over her head before stepping into her new one. “And don’t you dare think for a second I didn’t pick up on who exactly you were implying would be best for the job. You weren’t exactly being subtle.”

Todd scowled. “And that impacts your willingness to be observed? I do not see why, nothing has changed.”

“Oh yes it has,” Kate called, pulling on the belt and fastening it behind her. “Attraction is an observation; desire is a willingness to do something about it. Which end of the spectrum would you say you fall on?”

He didn’t answer, mostly because he wasn’t sure himself. He was not in the habit of pursuing females who did not already share a mutual desire which Katherine most decidedly did not. If asked this question in the past he would have readily admitted to being on the former end but recent events coupled with her own admission of a possible future association rendered him incapable of saying so now. Despite his assertion, Katherine was correct in that things had changed. While no longer content to simply observe, Todd had yet to decide how far, and in what way, he planned to press his suite. He wanted her yes, but he also wanted her to want him an outcome for which he had yet to devise a plan. His best recourse, therefore, was to remain silent.

Kate stepped back out into the main room. “How do I look?”

Mouth dry, Todd’s eyes widened as they looked over her, the previous conversation entirely forgotten. “Exquisite.”

Katherine blushed, a pink stain covering her cheeks and the back of her neck as she dropped her eyes, hiding a smile as she absentmindedly began to play with the ends of her hair. A sudden thought struck her, causing her to frown. Compared to the rest of her outfit her ponytail must look mighty out of place.

“It doesn’t match,” she mumbled forlornly, more to herself then Todd.

He responded, however, by cocking his head. “To what are you referring?” he asked.

She looked up. “My hair. Here I am wearing this gorgeous dress and my hair…I don’t suppose you own a brush? Or a comb or a mirror? I think I can fix it if I had something –”

“Or,” Todd interrupted, “You could allow me to offer assistance.” He held out his hand, “May I?”

Beyond curious as to what type of assistance he was offering, Kate walked towards him and allowed him to lead her back to the table whereupon he pulled out a chair for her and instructed her to sit, sideways, with her back to him. She waited, breathless, listening to him move behind her until she felt his fingers tug loose the tie holding her hair in place, letting it all cascade down her back. She was about to ask him what he was doing when she felt him begin to comb through the strands with his fingers, sectioning it off before starting to braid it. Without thinking, she let out a groan – tilting her head back for better access as she became lost to the sensation of his nails scraping her scalp and the gentle brush of his knuckles against the back of her neck. He worked deftly, incorporating more hair and larger sections to create a ridiculously complicated, interwoven plait she was sure he’d never worn himself.

“How’d you get so good?” she wondered aloud.

Todd chuckled. “I have sired multiple daughters and, in my youth, I had three sisters. You may trust I have had a great deal of practice.”

Remembering Michael’s cave and the first time he’d mentioned having children and then again when the baby had died and he told her he knew it would get easier because he’d buried several, Kate frowned. It was a strange to think of him as a parent given the presence he usually commanded, his standard predatory demeanor. It was especially difficult to imagine him being particularly loving, doing things like braiding hair, telling a story or giving a child any kind of affection. It was obvious he took the job seriously, that much she’d gathered, but taking a job seriously and being good at it were two completely different things. Patrick Sheppard had been very serious about being a father; in her case he’d just sucked at it. She was six the first time she heard him say he loved her.

“How many children do you have?”

Todd sighed. “I do not know for certain,” he began regretfully, sounding perhaps more sad then he meant to. His feelings on this matter were not ones he often discussed although for her he would make the effort, “I have at least nine although I suspect there are quite a few more. When a queen is in season male wraith are often traded between hives in accordance to her preferences. And as a queen will often lay with more than one male during her time it is often difficult to prove which is the sire.”

Kate made a face. “Well that’s…horrible. Isn’t there any way to be able to tell? Genetic testing or something?”

The wraith shook his head, allowing the last finished braid to slip through his fingers as he came to join her, dropping wearily into the seat directly in front of her. “It is available but seldom used. Our lines are traced exclusively through the motem so there is little need to know the identity of one’s sire. There are exceptions of course. My reputation and age for example have afforded me the right in recent centuries to be informed if my contributions result in the birth of a child. Before, I was lucky enough to serve as the hive master for a queen who sought my attentions and my attentions alone. Both her daughters and youngest son are mine although her eldest was sired by another. It is also fortunate I have been allowed to take part in my children’s lives. Most of them in any case.”

“ _Most_ of them?” Kate echoed, looking fairly disgusted. “That’s not right. It takes two people to make a baby; unless you’re using in-vitro you can’t do it with just one. Dads have as much right to their kids as moms do. Or at least they should, even on Earth it doesn’t always work out that way.”

“A subject on which you and I can agree,” Todd replied, pleased beyond measure she shared his opinion and saw the injustice in such a practice. The more he could make her despise the queens the more willing she would be to align herself with his cause, something he desperately wanted as her doing so would allow him the opportunity to pursue her more openly. Undecided he may be on his course of action there was still only so much progress he could make while she was shuttered away in Atlantis under the watchful eye of her brother and Mr. Woolsey. At least here he had the opportunity to speak with her openly without the need for subterfuge or pretense; something he could not do in a city surrounded by humans.

“It was not always like this,” he found himself explaining, wanting her to know more of the past he wished to return the wraith to, why it was imperative he do so. “In the time before the rebellion at the end of the Lantean War our culture was very different. Although still predominantly matriarchal, there was a greater equality amongst the sexes – our females did not mate as often or as freely as they do now unless multiple partners were a mutual preference.  There was commitment, perhaps not a permanent one but loyalty to a single partner at any given time was perceived as the cultural norm. And in the case of children, abdicating one’s parental rights for any reason was severely frowned upon although that did not always prevent it from happening.”

Kate’s eyes narrowed. She knew that tone, recognized it from the McKay’s wedding. He was speaking from experience again, “Who?” she asked.

Against the table, Todd’s fists clenched, “My eldest. His motem conceived him with the express intent of trapping me and when her tactic failed –”

“– She gave him up.” Kate dropped her eyes, a familiar bitterness welling up from the back of her throat. “I know what that’s like. My parents were going through a divorce when they found out about me, mom had had an affair. She wanted to abort me but after a paternity test confirmed I was his, dad told her he wouldn’t sign the papers if she went through with it. And let me tell you, it sucks growing up knowing one of your parents didn’t want you. I feel sorry for your son.”

Aghast, Todd looked at her with an expression akin to horror. Abortion as a way to deal with an unwanted child was a foreign concept to the wraith, one he only knew of due to his age and his exposure to humans like the Genii and the Atlantians. By the laws of his kind, among whom viable offspring were rare, intentional abortion was punishable by death. And knowing her, the thought of Katherine’s motem wanting to be rid of her infuriated him. If the woman lived and he ever had cause to meet her he would likely kill her on sight for the mere suggestion.

He opened his mouth to tell her so, perhaps offer reassurance, only to be silenced by the opening of his doors and the arrival of his second in command. The younger wraith took five steps and then froze upon seeing his commander was not alone; eyes narrowing as they regarded the female in his company and the attire she was currently wearing. It was obvious he did not approve and let his thoughts be known, silently of course, impressing up his superior his belief Sheppard’s sister did not deserve to be presented in such a way.

“She has every right,” Todd spat, rising to his feet in order to meet Kenny’s eye. The younger wraith winced, projecting fear. Good. Now an explanation, “I know when last she was on this ship I did not offer much in the way of clarification – there was no time and as Sheppard’s life was on the line I will admit to being somewhat distracted. Now however, allow me to make you understand: of all the humans in Atlantis Katherine is my only equal, a queen amongst her own kind although she does not much care for the distinction. Regardless, you would do well to treat her as such or suffer the consequences. Have I made myself clear?”

The wraith swallowed, nodding his head in acceptance as he was reminded why his hive master was so widely feared. He may not agree with the order, or the implications behind it, but he was not nearly stupid enough to either question him or disobey. “Yes, Commander,” he acknowledged bowing slightly before coming forwards to give his superior the report.

Then he waited.

Todd, after scanning it, looked up. “The source of our engine troubles has been located?”

His second gave an affirmative nod. “It has. A calibration error in one of the hydrogen separators caused a rupture in the main resonance compensator. Our brief jump to hyperspace was the system’s attempt to discharge the excess energy.”

“I see.” Todd’s eyes returned to the report, frowning as he considered it in more depth. “Do we yet know what caused the calibration error? A system malfunction perhaps?”

Kenny shook his head. “As I have been given to understand, one of the figures from the last data report was incorrectly recorded.  Therefore, when it was applied, the system –”

“I am familiar with the result, it is the reason we are having this conversation,” Todd interrupted, returning the viewing screen to his second. “Operational error is not unheard of though it will need to be corrected in the future. Has the technician responsible been located?”

“He has. He is being brought to the command deck as we speak. I assume you will want to address him?”

“I will. Have him brought to the throne room, I will await him there.” He turned, looking down on the still seated Katherine whose company he would be disappointed to lose. As much as he would like to show her he was capable of benevolence  - something he was sure the humans of Atlantis did not think he had – her presence would be hard to explain and even more difficult to understand. Loathe as he was to allow it, this is where their ways must part.

He extended his feeding hand, once again pleased she showed no hesitation in sliding her fingers into his as he pulled her to her feet, her fingertips just barely grazing his palm. “Forgive me but I must return to my duties. However, if it pleases you, I can escort you to the lower levels or I can have my second do it for me. Whichever you prefer.”

Knowing he had things to do Kate thanked him for the offer and chose Kenny who, when she looked at him, didn’t look too happy to have been volunteered. Undaunted, she smiled at Todd and confessed she hoped she’d be able to see him again soon before following his disgruntled second out of the room towards the elevators. For the entire ride back down into the bowels of the hive Kenny didn’t say a word which left her standing awkwardly beside him under the growing suspicion he didn’t approve of her. Her suspicion was confirmed when they reached the worshiper’s hall and he turned to inform her, now that the problem with the engines had been identified, not to expect to see the commander any time soon. Then he left her, turning on his heel to march stiffly back the way they’d come while Kate went in search of her brother and other teammates, resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at him.

She found him in the dining hall unenthusiastically eating lunch along with the rest of his team. Jennifer was presumably helping the matrons tend to those few worshipers who were sick as Kate made her way over, stifling a grin as soon as John saw her.

His mouth fell open. “Where the hell did you get that!?” he demanded, looking her up and down while everyone but Rodney did the same. “And what the fuck did you do to your hair?”

She frowned suddenly realizing she hadn’t actually seen what Todd’d done to it. “Is it bad?”

John’s mouth worked. “It’s not bad it’s just…a little more complicated then what I’m used to. You don’t normally do stuff like that. It looks like –”

“– You had help,” Ronon grunted, eyeing her. As intricate as all the interconnected braids were there was no way she could’ve pulled it off by herself. “Did one of the worshipers do it for you?”

She shook her head. “Not exactly…” she explained, trying to figure out how best to word this without anybody jumping to conclusions. In the end she just decided to hell with it, letting the chips fall where they may. “Todd did it for me.”

The entire table blinked at her, Rodney even stopped eating. Her brother looked absolutely gobsmacked. “ _Todd_ braided your hair?”

She nodded.

He made a face. “When the hell was this!?!”

“’Bout thirty minutes ago.”

“And the dress?”

“Taken from the queen’s wardrobe.”

Rodney blinked. “Thought Todd didn’t have a queen – that’s why he needed Teyla.”

She shook her head. “He doesn’t but he needs all the other wraith to _think_ he does. It’s all just for show but in the event anyone comes calling it’ll just look like the queen’s off visiting another hive in the alliance or something. It’s pretty clever actually.”

Admittedly this was true but what Teyla wanted to know was why Todd had felt the need to give her the dress in the first place.  To her that seemed the more pressing question. “I do not understand, what was wrong with what you were wearing? Did something happen to it?”

Kate winced. “Ah…not exactly.  On my way up to the bridge I got a lot of looks and I don’t mean good ones so I told Todd and he…I don’t think he liked the idea of the other wraith looking at me like I’m a worshiper. Given what they seemed to be used for I can’t say I’m sorry.”

“What about Teyla?” Ronon grunted, “Or Jennifer? Is Todd not worried about them?”

“He’s got a point,” John agreed. “Do they get fancy dresses too?”

“I don’t think there’s as much worry with them as with me,” Kate shrugged. “Jennifer’s been wearing her jacket over everything since we got here and Teyla never goes anywhere without either you or Ronon. Me on the other hand, if I’m going to convince Todd to try the gene therapy again I’m going to have to go back up to the command deck and I’d really rather not be dressed like a worshiper surrounded by wraith who leer at me more than Todd does when I do. At least I know he’s not going to try anything.”

Her brother raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? What makes you think that?” A look of horror suddenly flashed across his face, “You haven’t actually _talked_ with him about it have you?”

“As a matter of fact I have.” She replied, holding up two fingers, “Twice.”

“Twice!?!” he echoed. “What the hell did you say to him you needed to talk to him twice about having a snowball’s chance in hell of getting in your pants!?!”

Kate gave him a look. “Well, for starters, that’s not what we talked about and, for the record; his chances are a heck of a lot better than a snowball’s. Either way, it’s none of your business.”

The colonel disagreed. “Like hell it isn’t. You’re my sister and he’s… _Todd!!_ You can’t possibly think –”

“What I think is it’s not up to you,” Kate snapped. She sighed, “Look, I’m not saying something’s happening or even that something _might_ happen, but _if_ it does then it’s my decision and not yours. I’m telling you now, doesn’t matter if it’s Todd or someone else – who I sleep with is none of your concern.”

Struck dumb, John sat there blinking, unable to compose a reply as his sister rolled her eyes, gave a huff, and then walked off with the announcement she was going to go take a bath. He thought about following her, or sending Teyla to follow her, but decided against it knowing further interference might well have the opposite effect from the one intended. As a kid whenever somebody’d told her she couldn’t do something it’d only made her that much more likely to go out and do it. By that logic repeatedly telling her _not_ to encourage Todd would likely end up with the two of them screwing like rabbits – an outcome John really didn’t want to think about. Maybe if he stopped pushing so hard for her to keep him at arm’s length she’d stop trying to get so close just to prove him wrong.

Deciding to test his theory, John stayed put striking up a conversation with Rodney about video games while Ronon and Teyla left to go train in one of the lower gyms. The next time he saw Kate was at dinner.

~xXx~

The next day, despite Kenny’s best efforts, Todd found his way down to the worshiper’s hall in the middle of the human’s midday meal. His arrival sparked a profound silence, the worshipers staring at him with wide eyes as he prowled among them searching for one human in particular. He found her at the back of the hall, alone, unenthusiastically eating what looked like very watery stew. Her eyes registered disgust as he drew near, pushing her bowl away as he sat down across from her prompting the silence to break as whispers broke out amongst the worshipers. The wraith ignored them choosing instead to inquire after her current health, asking if she slept well while commenting on the fact she was no longer wearing her scarlet gown.

“I’m saving it,” she explained, giving him the same reasoning she’d given John the night before.

With a grin Todd then told her there was no need for such prudence, taking her hand as he led her from the hall back to her room where a large trunk sat waiting for her at the foot of her bed. Confused, she turned to him, expression begging an explanation.

“What’s in the trunk?”

He smiled at her. “A more varied selection of what you were given yesterday,” he informed her, “I thought perhaps you might like to have more than one option when choosing how to dress.”

Surprised, Kate left his side in order to investigate, unable to stop the gasp of girlish delight as she found at least a dozen dresses of the same likeness as the red one. Rising to her feet she turned to face him, resisting the urge to reach out and hug him for his thoughtfulness.

Instead she offered a heartfelt thank you.

“Your welcome,” he replied, much more relieved than he let on. Unlike the last gown chosen at random by a worshiper the ones in the trunk had been picked by his own hand, a selection Todd had labored over much more diligently then he cared to admit – hoping his choices pleased her. It was deeply satisfying to know he had succeeded.

_Commander._

The mental call broke through his thoughts, echoing in his mind. It was with reluctance he was forced to take his leave, bowing to the female before him promising he would see her again if his duties permitted. She smiled at him before waving goodbye, telling him she was looking forwards to it and that there was no need to rush for her sake; she understood. And although he couldn’t stay long Todd nonetheless found himself returning to her the following evening simply to see her and spend a few moments talking. The next day he had her brought to him whereupon he gave her a tour, walking the halls of his hive for hours as he explained the ship’s technical capabilities as well as the history of how the hives came to be. The day following, Todd once again came to her arriving in the middle of breakfast this time and earning a glare from Sheppard as he took her hand and led her way. Another day spent wondering the halls of his hive, this time accompanying him on his rounds, saw Katherine returned to her quarters late into the evening where she announced she was going to take a bath and then go to bed.

Two days later, Todd was woken in the late hours of the ship’s night cycle by an almost frantic handler begging entrance to his chambers as the barer of bad news. Resigned, the wraith hauled himself from bed and dressed quickly before mentally giving the subordinate leave to enter. His annoyance vanished an instant later as the anxious underling told him there had been an incident in the lower bathing chamber involving another handler, two worshipers and one of the female Atlantians.

Katherine.

“Where is she?” he demanded.

“She is being detained in one of the smaller holding cells,” his handler replied. “The hive second thought it best.”

“Did he?” Todd spat, anger coursing through him at the thought of Katherine being treated as though she were a prisoner. Even without knowing what had happened he doubted she was the one to be blamed.

“Come.”

With a skittish bow the subordinate waited for his commander to pass before following him through the halls to the elevator and then down to the cell block where the others waited. Upon their arrival, the gathered wraith bowed low as did the worshipers while the female from Atlantis did not. Instead she scowled and shot a glare in the direction of one of the wraith, presumably the handler involved in the incident. Todd noted he had three distinctive gashes running the length of his face and given the blood encrusting Katherine’s fingernails it was no small leap to assume how he had gotten them.

And while his appearance was worrisome, Katherine’s was even more so. Her wet hair hung limply over her shoulders and down her back while her skin, still damp, puckered beneath a near translucent shift through which her underlying nakedness was on clear display. A fact for which her posture told him she was very much aware. Eyes darting continuously left and right she looked uncharacteristically self-conscious and vulnerable, standing there with her arms crossed, hugging herself against the chill – her arms peppered with bruises, her hips and side sporting their own contusions. 

He stopped in front of her. “What happened?” he asked.

Kate swallowed. “They jumped me,” she began, glancing quickly at the two worshipers before returning to Todd, “While I was in the bath the two girls came in and then, all of a sudden, I was being held under water. I threw them off and pushed away, made it all the way to the side of the tub before something grabbed me. Then, the next thing I know, I’m getting hauled out of the water and thrown to the ground and when I look up, the wraith’s on top of me. He held me down, managed to get my knees apart and then he tried…but I fought him off – scratched up his face pretty good and then screamed. The other handlers came in and pulled him off me. I…he didn’t actually…nothing happened.”

“Perhaps not,” Todd replied, resisting the urge to lash out in anger, needing to know why she was attacked so that proper justice could be met. He could ill afford to lose his temper. “He may not have penetrated you but the attempt was made. What I do not understand is why.”

Dropping her eyes, Kate nervously bit her lip and looked at the floor. Infuriated, Todd turned to face the other three participants, recognizing at least one of the worshipers almost immediately. The fairer haired of the two females was not only the worshiper he had caught lingering in his quarters but also a recent addition to his hive; a gift given to him by the queen of a hive he wished to share resources with. She was a pleasure companion, trained in the art of how to please and although he had been assured her skills were unparalleled, Todd had no use for her. Refusing her, however, had not been an option. He’d taken her because he’d had to, returning with her to his hive whereupon he had had explained the bed she would warm would never be his. He had dismissed her to the worshiper’s hall telling her she might still be able to find favor with some of his officers. Reportedly she had done so and, also reportedly, her skills were not elaborated. Todd had no intention of finding out whether or not this was true, he did however have every intention of learning how she had come to be involved in this and of what part she had played.

The other worshiper who, like Teyla was both dark of hair and dark of skin, was an unknown. Unremarkable, it was to her he posted the command to explain.

Afraid and visibly shaking under the assault of his gaze, the woman answered, “I…t-the companion wanted this one t-to suffer and said she n-needed help to make it so. She…is favored by many high ranking masters. She said…if I did not help her she would…that I would be punished.”

Todd growled. “I see.” Another growl and he was standing in front of the handler. “And you? Did she threaten you as well or did she perhaps promise something else? Something you would otherwise be unlikely to achieve anytime in the near future.”

“She…offered to…lay with me,” the wraith confirmed, knowing better than to try and stay his punishment by offering a lie. Leniency was not something the Hive Commander was particularly known for. Nor was compassion. “I have never mated and she is a trained companion. The temptation –”

“The temptation is something you should have been able to resist,” Todd spat, a measure of his fury leaking through. “And if that was the offer then why would you attempt to force Katherine?”

The handler shivered, cringing under his commander’s gaze but he did not answer. Angry, Todd pushed his mind forwards, delving deep as he invaded the subordinate’s thoughts; painfully ripping the details of the altercation from his memory. Images flashed in his mind’s eye as the injured handler crumbled to the ground, unable to bare the weight of the elder’s mind. Todd was without mercy: plundering his subconscious, stealing every sensation, every fleeting feeling of coming into the bath, of feeling the naked Katherine writhe against him, struggling to push him off her, until there was nothing left. By the time he withdrew the underling had succumbed to the assault and lay comatose on the floor at his commander’s feet.

This left the other worshiper, the fair haired companion who by all accounts had been the one to orchestrate the entire attack. Todd moved to stand in front of her, grabbing her face and entangling his hand in her hair, forcing her to look at him. “You did this,” he accused, driving his thoughts into hers as she whimpered, clawing at his hands, desperate to get away. He held her fast, “You thought you could ensnare me, use the favor you would get from warming my bed to uplift your own position. You are angry I did not take you, jealous because I have given Katherine the attention you believe should be yours. You wanted to ruin her, to make it so I would no longer want her. You thought allowing another to take her would accomplish this. You thought…”

Disgusted, Todd pulled his mind from hers and with little effort, snapped her neck. Such treachery would not be allowed and, ignoring the sudden fear of the remaining worshiper, he ordered the handler woken in order to receive a similar judgment. Moving quickly, Todd announced his fate and then lay his hand upon the wraith’s chest, draining him dry. The worshiper screamed, neither his second nor the handler sent to fetch him so much as blinked. They knew the punishment to be just.

He then returned to Katherine, raising his bloodied feeding hand in clear indication of what he wished to do. She hesitated to accept but figured this must be some kind of wraith justice thing like, since she was the one he attacked, she got his life. She also guessed that if she were wraith, she’d have just taken it herself. Since she wasn’t, she uncrossed her arms and nodded, allowing Todd to step close – resting her hands at his waist, fingers cracking the leather as he lowered his feeding hand to her sternum and looped an arm around her back. The rush of euphoria that followed was short lived, only enough to heal her bruises and return some of the feeling to her toes. When he pulled away it was obvious he would have liked to have given her more.

“You will recover?” he asked.

She nodded, wrapping her arms back around herself in an effort to hide the fact she was still wet, her dress still see through and her nipples still erect. “I’ll get over it,” she whispered.

Todd hissed. “I do not want you to ‘get over it’, I wish you able to recover. There is a difference.” He turned, barking an order at his second to return to his duties and another at the handler to take the remaining worshiper back to the worshiper’s hall. He then looked back at Katherine, “Come with me.”

With another nod, Kate followed him from the cell block to the elevator and then through the hallways until they reached his quarters. There, Todd gently took her by the elbow, pulling her through the room, up the steps to his bedroom and then into the private bathing chamber. There he stopped, taking a step back as he gestured at the tub.

“Bathe,” he told her. “And from now on, you have my leave to use these facilities rather than the public bathing chamber. I will key my doors to admit you even when I am not here.”

Kate frowned. “I…I don’t want to intrude. And what about –”

“You will be given privacy,” he hastened to explain, correctly assuming that was the reason for her hesitation. “As much as I desire to see you I desire your immediate comfort more. Your confidence has been shaken; there is no shame in that nor do I see it as a weakness. I will keep my distance until such a time as your self-reliance is regrown.”

She looked at him. “And _then_ you’ll go back to gawking at me?”

The corners of his mouth twitched. “I do not gawk, that would be undignified. I will however admit to staring appreciatively upon occasion.”

She gave a weak smile, “Uh-huh,” and moved her eyes to the tub in the far corner of the room.

The wraith followed her gaze. “I will take my leave. You may take however long you like and when you have finished, you may stay and we will talk. In the meantime, I must speak with my second. Until then…”

He bowed, holding her gaze as he backed out of the room leaving her standing alone, still dripping, in his bathroom. And even with him gone Kate didn’t move for like a minute, mulling over her options and what’d happened, before deciding a bath would make her feel better and that it was best to just get it over with. With that in mind, she pulled the shift over her head, kicked it into a corner and then headed towards the tub…

~xXx~

Like every promise he’d ever made to her, Todd kept is word about staying away and giving her her privacy, even going so far as to call out to her that he had returned when he was done with Kenny so as not to frighten her. When Kate exited the bath she found another dress laid out for her on his bed this one a deep midnight blue with a high neck and long sleeves no doubt meant to make her feel more comfortable. Pulling it on, Kate wondered if she should ask him to do her hair again before stepping out into the main room and joining him at the table.

There was a tray waiting for her on which she found some kind of stew – less watery then she was used to – some bread, some cheese and a goblet of what turned out to be a very sweet wine that was slightly carbonated. The wraith version of a soda according to the explanation Todd gave. He talked a lot while she was eating, mostly about innocuous topics including how the repairs were going, before offering to take her to the queen’s quarters to fix her hair once she was done. Kate declined, asking instead if he could braid it like he’d done last time, a question which seemed to both surprise him and make him happy. Smiling at her – a real smile that while slightly creepy was nonetheless probably the most genuine she’d ever received – Todd got up, moved behind her and then began by combing his fingers through her hair. When he was done, they talked for perhaps an hour more before the wraith insisted on escorted her back to her room leaving her with the instruction not to leave until he came for her on the marrow.

When he did come, he showed up at her door with a bundle of clothing, this time made of leather and a thick brocade, which he gave her and told her to put on while he waited outside in the hallway. The outfit turned out to be workout clothes or at least the wraith equivalent thereof: a pair of leather breeches, boots, and a bodice which left her stomach mostly bare. Kate joined him once she was dressed and let him take her hand as he led her to the gym Teyla and Ronon used to train with the handlers. Once they arrived he turned to her and explained, so that what happened in the bathing chamber did not happen again, he was going to teach her the correct way to defend against an attacking wraith. What followed was an intimate course in wraith biology and physiology as Todd pointed out in detail a wraith’s weaknesses, how to exploit them and the best way to render any wraith wanting to harm her defenseless in a matter of seconds.

They practiced for three days and on each of those days Katherine’s confidence began to return, her self-reliance re-building. She had never been helpless just caught off guard, an oversight Todd’s detailed instruction quickly corrected. Even if she were to once again find herself unprepared, she now knew enough to be able to turn the tide on any attacker stupid enough to make her a target. And on the plus side, their sparring matches had the added benefit of allowing him close to her, giving him the opportunity to observe her in combat with a scrutiny he had not so far been allowed. What he saw only made him want her more as Katherine fought with deadly grace and a determination that bordered on intoxicating. The more he saw the harder it became to resister renewing his offer, knowing she would refuse. It was as of yet, still too soon.

On the fourth day, when they arrived at the arena, they were not alone. The runner, Teyla and even Sheppard were present along with Dr. McKay, his mate and several junior officers and handlers. They stood to the side as the Setedan completed his bout with one of the hive’s communications specialists before Todd announced their presence, telling the human he had fought well, causing a hush to fall over the gymnasium as all eyes turned to them.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Sheppard demanded.

Todd sniffed. “It is my hive, I may go where I like but, as it turns out, my purpose here is the same as yours.” He stepped to the side, revealing the human’s sister standing behind him. He walked out onto the floor, choosing the weapons he had been using these past few days before offering another pair of daggers to Katherine.

Before she could take them, John let out a howl of protest. “Are those real knives? The fuck you think you’re doing? You can’t seriously be thinking about fighting –”

“Fuck off,” Kate snapped, snatching the two slightly curved, bayonet-like blades out of Todd’s hand before circling him and coming into her ready position. “Go sit down and watch; you might learn something.”

Scowling, John returned to the bleachers to sit with his team while the assembled wraith began to whisper amongst themselves, curious as to why their commander was choosing to spar a human female. Surely she her efforts would not present much of a challenge.

_Do not underestimate her,_ Todd warned, indulging the silent inquires of his crew with a response as he removed his outer layers of clothing, pulled of his undershirt and  then returned to the floor; attention entirely focused on the female as they began to circle one another. _She is a more worthy opponent then you could possibly know._

Chastened, the watcher’s minds fell silent as their circling continued until finally Todd lunged; spinning towards her with a power and speed Katherine almost unable to catch. She succeeded though, raising her arms just in time to block both the upwards and downwards jabs from each of his daggers respectively, her arms going numb from the strength of his blows as he drew back and began to circle again. This time, when he came at her, she pivoted on her right foot, planting a kick to his bare chest that sent him skidding backwards – his sternum now sporting an impression of her heel.

He recovered quickly, ducking as she finally went on the offense, allowing her to get within range before reaching out to lock her neck against the bend in his elbow, pulling her to him until her back hit his front.

He lowered is head to her ear. “You should not be this easy to capture, Katherine. Are you feeling well?”

She growled, flexing as she jabbed the pummel of her dagger into his right side, earning a grunt before pulling free and dropping into a crouch; using her leg to swipe his feet out from under him. He landed on his back with a thud, rolling away from her with a snarl as she brought her dagger down with enough force to embed it into the ground where his head had been moments before. And while she struggled to free the blade, Todd surged to his feet, rushing her in an attempt to catch her off guard. Katherine dodged, throwing herself to the side and pulling the dagger free before doing a summersault into an upright position. Turning to face him, her face split into a deadly grin, eyes dancing as they dared him to come at her again.

Unable to resist the temptation, he complied, lunging forwards and this time managing to collide with her with enough force to make her drop her daggers. Rather than engage him, however, Kate flipped backwards into a handspring, grabbing up both blades before arriving back on her feet, turning to her opponent with just enough time to strike as he came after her. Todd hissed, halting his advance as he looked down, noting the trail of blood that had appeared from shoulder to hip following the line her dagger had made.

He looked up. “First blood.” His tone was thick; multiple layers filled with lust for battle while his eyes were dark and filed with lust of a different kind. He felt his veins pulse, blood boiling as he noted a similar expression on her face – storm grey eyes nearly black.

“Point to me,” Kate smirked, taking a breath to calm her racing heart before rushing him, locking them in heated combat as they traded blows and tried their best to one-up the other.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines, Sheppard and his team were having a damned hard time believing what they were seeing. They’d seen Todd fight Ronon – it’d happened once and would probably never happen again owing to the fact the Setedan had actually been trying to kill him – and they’d seen Kate fight nearly every marine on base, but seeing them fight each other was eye opening. Neither was holding back because neither had to – and they were pretty damn well matched. At least in skill. It was a given Todd was stronger, during an obstacle run on Earth they’d seen him flip a car, but apparently in the how-to-be-deadly department he and Kate were all but equal. And they seemed to have gotten pretty good at anticipating each other’s moves. Watching them it almost seemed as though they were dancing which was funny to think about considering they’d all actually seen the two of them dance and Todd had sucked at it. Apparently fighting each other was a different story, they were both almost graceful in a really dangerous, deadly sort of way.

It was literally mesmerizing to watch and also a bit scary. They were both way too good at trying to kill each other.

Not that they were trying particularly hard. When Todd caught Kate on the arm, pulling away from her as she gave a cry and winced in pain, the look on his face was one of ultimate contraction.

“My apologies Katherine," he said sincerely, ignoring the panicked screech from Sheppard the human gave when he saw his sister’s blood. "We may stop if you –”

“Fuck that, it’s just a scratch,” the woman protested, gripping both daggers tightly as she got back in to a ready stance. Her entire body was coiled tight, like a spring, ready to explode forwards. “I’m not done with you.”

The way she said it, from her tone of voice to the menacing snarl painted across her lips, Todd could not help the reaction his body had to her statement, hardening as a rush of blood traveled downwards. It was in that moment as she spun, coming at him with all the passion, all the fury of a raging storm, Todd made a decision. He wanted her and he would have her – opinions could be swayed. He could seduce her, court her, make her want him as fervently as he wanted her. If Katherine was half as much the type of female he suspected her of being it should not be overly difficult to convince her he would make an acceptable mate. It might take time but Todd was patient, agreeing wholeheartedly with the human saying that all good things came to those who waited.

With this in mind, the wraith tossed his daggers aside, ducking under her most recent attack before reaching for her – catching her and rendering her bladeless while using his greater strength to pin her in place, his arms locked across her chest. Katherine struggled, straining and writhing against him until she gained enough footing to flex her elbows back, gouging him in the sides in an attempt to make him loosen his hold. It worked and she was able to slip free only to be captured again and spun around, his hand clutching the back of her thigh, squeezing as the other caught her by the throat, lifting her up only to be slammed down into the ground as he came over her; preventing her from making any attempts at further escape.

Having had the wind knocked out of her, Kate gasped for breath, straining against nearly two-hundred and forty pounds of solid wraith damn near sitting on top of her. As she struggled, she felt something foreign press into her stomach as Todd continued to hold her down, leaning over her ever so slightly, the hand that had been on her thigh now holding her wrists together above her head. Curious, she arched her back, pushing upwards with her hips only to hear him give a deep growl before pressing down on her harder. Above her, she saw his eyes darken, their cat-like pupils dilating and suddenly, Kate realized what the foreign object was. It wasn’t a knee and knowing this, she forced her entire body to go still; grey eyes impossibly wide.

“Todd –”

“Yield,” he whispered, amber eyes practically boring into hers, preventing her from looking away, “Yield to me.”

Swallowing hard, Kate forced a nod knowing there was no point in resisting. At least not now, “I yield.”

Hissing in satisfaction, the wraith didn’t immediately get off her. Instead he stayed, willing her to know what she’d done to him, the power she wielded and what she was capable of making him do. Such things were empowering to females and he very much wanted Katherine to feel empowered, to know she could control him if she wished.

“TODD!!!”

Sheppard’s shout gave him pause, reminding him they were not alone and that there were witnesses to him sitting atop her. With great reluctance he regained his feet, pulling her up with him as they both turned to face her brother.

He looked absolutely furious. “My apologies,” Todd said, hoping to appease the human with what amounted to a false platitude. It didn’t look like he was going to succeed. “In the heat of battle I…forgot myself.”

John didn’t believe him, not for a second. “Oh yeah right, sure.” His eyes narrowed, “Three feet. Back away from my sister, now!”

“John!” Kate admonished, feeling not only self-conscious and flushed but also more excited than she had any right to be given the circumstance. It was wrong, so horribly, horribly wrong but just knowing she’d had that kind of effect, that without even really trying she’d been able to make Todd react like that, to totally forget there were people watching, made her feel accomplished and powerful – almost dominant. At the same time, however, she was also ashamed. Sex was not a weapon, at least not for her, and after years in the NC26 project she didn’t feel comfortable leading people on when she had no intentions of following though. She wanted to apologize, tell Todd she was sorry but had a feeling he wouldn’t accept.

He didn’t understand and probably never would. “I’m fine. He didn’t…he’d never hurt me. Not on purpose. I just need…I need a shower, or a bath, preferably a cold one.” She looked to Todd, briefly meeting his eyes before looking away, lowering her gaze to focus on a point somewhere near his nose. “I don’t suppose the water in your tub’s capable of changing temperature?”

He nodded, disappointed and confused as to why she would not look at him. Surely she could not be embarrassed; there was nothing to be embarrassed for. There had to be another reason. Perhaps she had been more injured then he originally thought. “It can. Merely lay your hand on the wall beside the faucet when you go to fill it, the hive will sense which temperature you desire and adjust the water accordingly.”

“I…thanks,” Kate said softly, running a nervous hand over her hair before jerking her thumb behind her. “I’m just going to…I promise I won’t take long but I…”

Trailing off, she left quickly before she could make herself look like even more of an idiot leaving John and Todd in her wake, the former glaring at the latter like there was no tomorrow.

The wraith growled. “Something you wish to say, Sheppard?” he prompted.

The human glowered, turning to face Todd dead on as the arena emptied around them, the spectators filing out as if driven by some silent order. In his peripheral vision, John saw his teammates hovering at the entrance waiting for him. He waved at them to go on ahead, mouthing he would be long in a minute before returning to glare at Todd. There were a couple of things he and the wraith needed to get straight.

“First off,” he began, crossing his arms, “I know that look. Contrary to what everybody assumes I’m not completely unobservant. You want my sister and you’re thinking about going after her. I’m telling you this now: you do, you’re dead.”

Todd snarled. “Do you not think the decision should be left up to Katherine?” he inquired, “After all, it will be she I am pursuing –”

“Ha!” John exclaimed loudly, pointing an accusatory finger at him, “So you admit it, you _are_ planning on –”

“I am contemplating it, yes,” Todd replied, knowing at this point it was rather futile to pretend the human’s assumptions weren’t correct. There was however, a major flaw in part of his reasoning, “You cannot stop me.”

“The hell I can’t!” John protested. “I’ll fucking castrate you before I let you so much as touch her. I’ll –”

“Atlantis’ continued survival is dependent upon me,” Todd reminded him, delighted by the knowledge he held such power over Sheppard when Sheppard, at present, held none over him. How the tables had turned. “You can threaten me all you like John Sheppard but, in the end, your threats are empty. Killing me is not in your best interest and besides, your sister may not yet covet me in the same manner as I do her but there is no denying the fact she is rather fond of me. Should you make an attempt on my life, or upon other parts of my anatomy, I am sure she would not tolerate it. Not to mention your Mr. Woolsey would have you removed from the chain of command. In short, you can cause me no harm without visiting more upon yourself while I, on the other hand, do not have such constraints. So, heed me when I say: what I want I habitually get. Get in my way and you will not like the outcome. I protect what is mine and, whether by your leave or not, your sister will be mine. It is now only a matter of time.”

Infuriated, John glared, eyes narrowed to hazel slits as Todd gave him one last look before walking off, grabbing his coat and other clothing, pulling them on as he went. Unfortunately the wraith was right; his hands were tied because if he tried anything and Todd backed out, cancelled their alliance or died, Atlantis was screwed. He couldn’t kill him, couldn’t fucking castrate him and couldn’t stop him from going after his sister like she was a damned prize to be fucking won. His only consolation was the fact Todd had said it was only a matter of time. Hopefully that meant what he thought it meant, that he was going to try to seduce her. That John could work with because having to seduce her meant Kate wasn’t on the same page he was. Hopefully she’d see through whatever methods he tried although, now he thought about it, Kate’d been tricked before. Her world history professor in college had talked her into having an affair so he could spy on her for their mother and then there was Travers who she’d actually agreed to marry.

Going forwards, John knew he had to be careful, not to mention vigilant. Todd was a sneaky bastard and nine times out of ten he was right, what he wanted he usually figured out a way to get. As long as he didn’t hurt her, John figured he’d find a way to convince himself it was all okay. The second however Kate did get hurt, whether physically or emotionally, that was it – Todd was done. Important or not John would fucking end him, preferably in the slowest, most painful way possible. No one hurt his baby sister, no one. He’d broken a promise to her once before, taking off without telling anyone where he was going and literally disappearing off the face of the Earth. He’d die before he did that to her again.

If Todd hurt her he was as good as dead.

Resolved, John left the gym in search of his teammates. Maybe they’d have some kind of idea on how to handle this, maybe Jennifer would know a way to kill Todd and make it look like an accident. Heaving a sigh, he began jogging down the corridor…  

~xXx~

By the time Todd reached his quarters they were empty and Katherine was gone, presumably back to the worshipers hall. Her scent however, remained – lingering in the place she had spent the most time, namely his bathing chamber. Inhaling deeply, he drew himself a bath before stripping bare, discarding his clothes and then sinking into the steaming, green tinted mineral water. With a hiss he leaned back and tried to wrap his mind around what had most recently occurred. It had not been his intention to confess so much to Sheppard although now he had, it felt as if a weight had been lifted off him. His feelings for the human may not be particularly charitable but he did at least hold a grudging respect for the man. Lying to him, at least outright, had never sat well and doing so was only ever a tactic he employed when he was given no other choice.

He had also wanted Sheppard to know his desire for Katherine was not purely physical, a message he was not sure he had succeeded in getting across. Having once had sisters of his own, he understood the human’s worry but how to make him see he wanted her for more than pleasure might be difficult to convey. His kind did not love the same way humans did, for them it was a conscious choice that, once made, could not be taken back.  For a wraith to fall in love they would be choosing to bind themselves to their chosen for the rest of their days, separating only at the cost of both their lives. Todd could never love Katherine but he could develop an affection for her which, hopefully, she would return. He also planned to stay with her for however long she would allow; years, possibly decades if that was what she wished. And he would be faithful, even if ordered to by a queen he would not betray her so long as she kept the same faith in him.

Todd sighed and rose from the water, draining the tub as he stepped out, dried himself off and then began to dress. Of course, before any of this could come to fruition, he needed a plan – a task much easier said than done. For starters, there was the fact they came from different cultures: his predominantly ruled by females and hers predominantly ruled by males. Finding a middle ground on which to stand promised to be difficult if not downright challenging. And if that was not enough, as far as courting was concerned, Todd was sadly out of practice. His main concern, however, was the issue of attraction.

The simple truth, as painful as it was to admit, was that Katherine was not attracted to him in the same manner he was attracted to her. In his case, he had been physically drawn to her since the day they had met and the longer he knew her, the more that attraction grew. She, on the other hand, had unreservedly explained his appearance was something she would require time to get around. At least in concerns to his face which; admittedly, he could not entirely blame her for. He had been around humans all his life and, while different, their features did not seem foreign. The same could not be said of Katherine and the wraith which left him the option of winning her over with his personality in hopes a more physical attraction would develop later.

To this end, Todd was actually quite optimistic. Katherine had already stated she liked him more than she should, something he had later been told was due to his character and what very little she knew of him personally. Given that, allowing her to know him in his entirety, without the filter of pretense or artifice, could only be to his advantage. And perhaps, in time, he could even give her his name. No one had called him anything other than _Eldest_ or _Commander_ in centuries.

_Commander?_

With a growl, Todd finished righting his clothes, raked a hand through his hair to dissolve it of tangles and then left his bedroom; coming down the stairs into the main chamber as he gave leave for whoever was outside to enter.

The doors opened and Kenny appeared, bowing low in formal greeting. “Forgive the intrusion but I came to inform you the repairs are almost completed. I have already informed the humans, we will have hyperdrive in a few hours after which Sheppard and his team will be able to depart.”

At first relived, Todd quickly realized if Sheppard left Katherine would follow. As such, his immediate relief rapidly turned to sour disappointment.

A change in demeanor his second was able to pick up on. “Are you not pleased Commander? Surely you will be glad to be rid of them. They are an extremely…vexing bunch.”

“So you say,” Todd replied stiffly, thinking of the female he would be sorry to see go. “They are not all bad.”

Kenny raised a brow ridge. “You are referring to the female, Sheppard’s sister?” He hissed, straightening his spine. “I suppose compared to her brother she is tolerable enough. Her presence however is a distraction we can ill afford.”

“We?” The elder echoed sliding his eyes over the younger wraith, who’s meaning, while veiled, was still abundantly clear. “You think I have spent too much time with her, that my duties have suffered as a result?”

Alarmed, Kenny shook his head. “I do not. Your performance is as exemplarity as ever my Commander.”

Todd hissed. “Then I am curious, how has Katherine proven a distraction?”

“She…” the wraith hesitated, unsure whether he should share his misgivings with the commander or not. Perhaps his statement had been premature – she was not a distraction yet but if the Eldest did not take measures to guard himself against her she might well become one. Personally, Kenny did not see the appeal. She was human and notably unremarkable save the fact she was Sheppard’s sister. Unless the commander was planning on using that to his advantage Kenny could see no use for her.

“Katherine is far more valuable then you can possibly know.”

The wraith looked up, yellow eyes narrowing to slits even in his surprise. “You are monitoring my thoughts?”

His commander nodded. “It is my right, I am Hive Master and you are my subordinate. Admittedly I do not do it often however, in this particular circumstance, I am glad I did. Katherine is no mere pawn to control Sheppard, although she can be used as such that is not why I want her.”

“Most decidedly not,” Kenny replied, remembering the report he had been given by one of the crew who had witnessed the match between the elder and the female in question. His lust had been easy to read, surprising a good many who knew his preferences did not usually include humans. “If you decide to pursue her I doubt her kind will take kindly to it. They may well revoke their alliance as a result. Not to mention how Sheppard is likely to feel about the matter. He would kill you.”

“He would try. I doubt very much he would succeed. If Katherine did not stop him Mr. Woolsey would. He has already been warned once against interfering with our relationship, a second infraction would not be easily forgiven. And as for the rest of Atlantis, their survival is contingent upon me. At the moment, the price for my altruism is their continued assistance and resources. If I were to release them from that obligation and demand only Katherine’s participation they would comply. Her own mandate is to deal with the wraith, to glean as much knowledge about us as is possible. I have already promised to facilitate that in return for her loyalty, something both she and Mr. Woolsey have agreed to. In short, were I to take her, the humans could not stop me and neither can you. Do not get in my way and do not make any further attempts to dissuade me. You will not appreciate the consequences if you do.”

Kenny bowed. It was not quite a threat but it was near enough. He had seen his commander angry at having been denied once before; he had no wish to bear witness to it again and be on the receiving end. There was a reason the Eldest was feared even amongst queens.

“You wish me to leave?”

His commander nodded. “Yes. You may return to your duties but first, I wish you to find Katherine and bring her to me. There is something we must discuss before her departure.”

Kenny bowed again. “It will be done Commander,” he said plainly, multi-layered voice suspiciously free of any secondary inflections.

Todd sighed and waved him away, watched him disappear through the double doors before turning on his heel and retreating to his bedroom. If Katherine was to leave soon then he had little time to implement his plan. It was doubtful that after this he would be seeing her any time soon and he wanted to leave her with a lasting impression. There was also the matter of the gene therapy which had so far been tactfully avoided in all their many discussions. At first Todd had not understood why but now he did, or at least he had a theory. He could accomplish both objectives at once with very little effort but first, he needed to find that book.

No small task when he was not known for his cleanliness. With a growl, he summoned a worshiper and began searching. The human male, one of three, was left waiting for him in the main chamber some twenty minutes before he was able to locate the text he desired. Retrieving it, he thumbed through the leaves to the correct page before presenting it to the worshiper, commanding he listen as he began issuing instruction…

~xXx~

When Kenny found Kate and told her the Commander wanted to talk and that he was supposed to take her up to his command quarters, her brother was predictably not happy.

“The fuck does he need to say to her he can’t come down here?” he wanted to know, shouting loud enough for practically the whole worshiper’s hall to hear.

Kate glared at him, still slightly put out by the lecture she’d gotten after getting back from her bath. Somehow he’d managed to make her feel like she was sixteen again and had been caught having sex in the back seat of their dad’s Cadillac. And she hadn’t even _done_ anything.

“Does it matter?”

His eyes narrowed. “Of course it matters, remember what I said!?!”

She sighed. “You said he admitted he wants to sleep with me, I already knew that. I’ve known that since Christmas. He’s not exactly subtle.”

On the other side of the table, Ronon made a face. “And you’re fine with that? You’re just gonna tell him no?”

“I _have_ told him no,” Kate emphasized, “He’s a persistent bastard, I don’t know if you’ve noticed. And that’s only for right now, later – ”

“So later you’ll let him sleep with you?” Rodney interrupted, “How’s that better!?!”

Kate growled. “Oh for the love of God – can we not talk about this now? You’re acting like I’ve already made up my mind. I haven’t. I’m not even sure I like him that much; I’ve just learned to never say never unless it’s a guarantee. Things change.”

“He’s wraith, that’ll never change,” Ronon spat angrily. “He’ll always be a monster.”

“So will I,” Kate deadpanned, her expression deceptively neutral. “You have no idea what I’m capable of, what I’ve done; the number of people I’ve killed. If Todd’s a monster then so am I, we’re both living embodiments of death.” She turned to Kenny, the wraith was watching her with a bemused expression on his face, as unsure what to make of her proclamation as her brother’s teammates. “Lead the way,” she told him. 

With a hiss, her escort turned on his heel and marched away leaving her to follow silently behind him all the way to the command deck. Their journeys were always awkward making her happy when they reached their final destination. He lead her through the doors, bowed formally to Todd – much more formally then Kate could remember him doing in the past – then left.  

She looked to her host. “You wanted to talk to me?”

“I did, yes,” he said, turning to face her as he lay his feeding hand on the back of a chair, nodding at the table. “I thought perhaps, as you will be leaving sometime tomorrow, you might consent to share a meal with me. I took the liberty of having something prepared.”

Raising an eyebrow, Kate followed his gaze and frowned at the two place settings. “Is someone else joining us?”

He shook his head. “Not as such, no. It is only the two of us.”

A look of surprise as well as skepticism took over her face. “Are you planning on eating?”

Amused, Todd felt the corners of his mouth twitch. “Does that surprise you? I do not see why, you know I am capable. You have, on numerous occasions, insisted I try something simply because you think I will enjoy it.”

Well when he put it that way. “So…whatever we’re going to eat, is something you like?”

He nodded, taking a single step forwards as he held out a hand, inviting her to sit. She complied mostly out of curiosity, wanting to see where exactly this was going. She was sure he had an agenda, he always had an agenda, and while it was true she’d made him try eggnog, various types of alcohol, popcorn and a chocolate chip cookie watching him eat a whole meal promised to be an experience. Taking her seat, allowing Todd to pull out her chair and then push it in, she watched him drop down next to her and then take up his goblet. Looking down at her plate, Kate picked up her fork and took an experimental bite.

It didn’t taste bad. “Wow,” she remarked, taking another bite and then swallowing. “This is good. What is it?”

Her table companion looked ridiculously pleased with himself, almost smug. “I am glad you enjoy it. The dish is called _maaka_ and was a particular favorite of mine before the war. Before the wraith gained the ability to feed.”

Pausing with her fork halfway to her mouth, Kate frowned. “What do you mean _‘before the wraith gained the ability to feed’_? Isn’t that part of your evolution, haven’t you always been able to do so?”

Todd shook his head. “No. And as a matter of fact, I lived the first nearly two thousand years of my life without the ability. It was an accident, a mutation born from the deployment of a chemical weapon meant to eradicate us. It failed.”

“Well obviously,” Kate muttered, trying almost in vain to wrap her mind around this new information. It changed everything. “So, if that’s the case, then the gene therapy –”

“You are not the first to attempt a reverse the transformation; the Lanteans promised one as well. After we fought their war for them and were sequentially poisoned by their enemy, providing a cure was not so much to ask.”

Kate took a sip of wine. “I take it they didn’t deliver?”

Todd shook his head. “Not in the time we needed them to. They used us, yoking our strength to use as cannon fodder during their time of crisis. When we were no longer needed it was no longer important to keep us appeased. The cullings were began as a temporary measure to last us until the damage caused by the Daemon weapon could be undone. A treaty was signed giving us permission to harvest a small percentage of the population on various overcrowded worlds, worlds on which the Lanteans experiments had fallen to the way side.

“Eventually however, these measures were no longer enough to sustain our population. We began to starve and so we entered into negotiations to increase the percentage we were allowed to cull. The Lanteans refused and claimed they were close to a cure but after a further ten years of waiting no such cure presented itself. The war was began when our allies accused us of breaking the treaty to cull only in certain systems, expanding our territory and taking human lives indiscriminately. Where the rumor was begun I do not know I only know they chose to attack rather than confirm it.”

“And naturally the wraith retaliated.”

He gave a single nod. “Yes.”

Kate stared at him. “Why are you telling me this? Not that I don’t enjoy the history lesson but why even bring it up? It’s not like it’s relevant –”

“On the contrary I consider it extremely relevant,” the wraith argued. “Until now you have avoided speaking to me of the gene therapy which, consequently, is the reason why you are here. At first I thought you did not mention it because you were unsure how to broach the topic but that is not the case is it? You disapprove of the idea and consider it a waste of time – too drastic a change to ask for when the return has not yet been verified.”

She nodded, draining her goblet before reaching for the decanter in order to refill it. “Well yeah, basically,” she admitted. “I mean, your ability to feed’s tied to your longevity. And your ability to heal. Getting rid of it –”

“– Will not have as great an impact as you might think,” Todd stopped her, “As I said, I lived for nearly two thousand years before developing the ability to feed and only then as a result of mutation. As for our ability to heal, the wraith have always been unaffected by most common ailments and while not so expedient our ability to regenerate is a natural born trait. Our ability to feed only accelerates these processes, it does not create them. The only suggestion I would make in regards to this new treatment is rather than ridding ourselves of the capacity all together, we should be allowed to retain it simply as a cautionary measure. I think if this were the case, more wraith would be willing to accept the therapy not simply those under my command. And that is the goal yes? To be rid of the threat of my race once and for all?”

Crossing her arms, Kate eyed him speculatively. “That’s the idea, yeah,” she agreed. “Although it’s been pointed out more than once, usually by Ronon, you all’ll still be here even if you don’t feed any more. So what then? Back to your homeworld?”

“In part although not entirely,” Todd explained. “While I would prefer to return things to how they once were I realize not all my brethren desire the same. I would be content to rebuild Vallan and then continue to explore the galaxy as do you and as did the Lanteans. Perhaps we may even venture out to colonize other stars, I do not know. It is certainly something to consider once our end goals have been met, preferably in your lifetime. I would like you to be able to see my world in as close an approximate to how it was as is possible.”

Kate smiled. “Or we could just go get a time machine. I think the SGC’s got one in storage somewhere. Something Janus made.”

At the mention of the Lantean scientist, Todd snorted. “Let us not, shall we? If you have any true desire to see my city as it once stood I will draw you a picture.”

Kate looked at him. “You can draw?” she inquired, taken aback. Artistic ability wasn’t something she’d have pegged him for. “Are you any good?”

The wraith smiled, pointed teeth peeking at her from inside his mouth. “Wait here,” he told her, disapperating across the room only to return seconds later with a large sketch book.

He handed it to her, retaking his seat and commencing his own meal as Katherine flipped back the cover and gasped in wide eyed surprise. He was beginning to rather like that particular expression, particularly when something he did put it there. “I trust you approve?”

Kate stared at the page, blinking in bewildered astonishment at what she was seeing. It was a technical drawing but it was still way more detailed and accurate then she’d expect from him. And, scanning through the pages, technical drawings weren’t the only thing she found. There was more than one image of the same city, Vallan if she had to guess, and several more that were portraits of the same wraith queen.

“My eldest daughter,” Todd explained when he saw which page she had stopped to look at. “She is dead now, betrayed by one of her sisters. Memory is not always a blessing.”

“No it’s not,” Kate agreed, turning the page, setting the sketchbook aside. “I’m sorry you lost her. I know from experience, it’s not easy. And I only had him for a few days.”

“The length of time does not matter, he was yours and you had to bury him.” He looked at her, cocking his head to one side as he remembered the day, remembered holding her as she wept, weaving his hands through her hair until her brother came to take her way. “Did you name him?”

Kate shook her head. “No, I never did. I just called him my little one or my precious. John joked that I should’ve named him Gollum. I think, even then I think I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, for something to go wrong and take him away from me. I was waiting to name him until I was sure I got to keep him.”

“A pity.” The wraith regarded her, dismayed to see her in such pain. “Perhaps a change in subject,” he suggested, “There is a table game much like your human chess I believe you would enjoy. May I teach you?”

“I’d like that,” she murmured, smiling weakly. “Are we staying here or…”

“You may remain seated and I will fetch it,” Todd replied, rising from his seat. Once again, he retreated across the room before returning, laying out a checkered board slightly larger than your average chess set between the two of them. For the next hour he explained the rules to her, how the pieces moved and how points were awarded. The game lasted several hours and was almost exactly like chess with a little bit of _Battleship_ and _Risk_ thrown in just to keep things interesting. Kate had a blast and by the time she’d started yawning, they’d played enough times for her to kick his ass twice.

Todd was a gracious looser, smiling indulgently at her as she stuck her tongue out at him, yellow eyes reflecting happiness. It was with great reluctance he agreed to escort her back to her quarters when the time came for her to get some sleep, bowing to her in informal politeness as he left her at her door. Unfortunately John was waiting for her on her bed, a cross expression on his face as he raged at her for being gone so long; wanting to know what the hell she and Todd’d been talking about that’d taken four hours. Rather than tell him, Kate had rolled her eyes and kicked him out, telling him she’d see him in the morning.

When morning came, she dressed in her armor for the first time in nearly two weeks, wistfully casting glances towards the trunk at the foot of her bed. The red dress she’d first been given was her favorite and she regretted not being about to take it with her. Likely she’d never get the change to wear it again.

She followed the others to the dart bay, finding Todd waiting for them next to the jumper as soon as they arrived.  The wraith surveyed them apathetically, all but her, offering a bland farewell as they boarded their craft and settled down. Before they could depart however, Todd took her aside and presented her with a box, explaining she should have a souvenir in order to remember her time aboard. 

“Thank you,” she said sincerely, taking the crate and offering a hand for him to shake. He surprised her by taking it, lifting it to his mouth and then brushing her knuckles with his lips. Not quite a kiss but damned close to one, enough to make her blush and John squawk in protest. He then dragged her to the jumper and raised the hatch, shooting Todd one last glare before taking the flight controls and lifting off.

“Well, that was fun,” he mumbled, steering the craft towards the exit and then down to the planet they were using to gate home. “Let’s avoid it in the future shall we?”

“What’s in the box?” asked Jennifer, glancing at Kate where she stood leaning in the doorframe.

“Todd said it was a souvenir,” the woman explained, shifting positions so she could open it and peer inside. Her face immediately split into a wide grin. “Well I’ll be damned.”

“What?” Jennifer prompted, getting up from her seat in order to peer over Kate’s shoulder. “Oh wow, it’s the dress he gave you that first time. He’s letting you keep it.”

John swiveled in his chair. “Say what now? Todd’s giving you clothes?”

His sister rolled her eyes. “You can panic when he starts giving me jewelry,” she admonished, snapping the lid shut. “Until then, keep your opinions to yourself.”

Grumbling, her brother fixed his eyes forwards and reached for his radio, giving instruction to McKay to dial the gate. “Atlantis this is Sheppard, do you copy?”

Their response was straight and to the point. “Where the hell’ve you been?” Woolsey demanded, not even bothering with the usual pleasantries. “You’ve been out of contact for over two weeks!”

John winced. “Yeah I know. Look, Todd’s hive had a little engine trouble and we’ve been stuck on it the entire time we’ve been gone. It’s sucked so can you just lower the shield and let us through? I promise we’ll give you a full debrief after a full meal and a hot shower.”

“I’ll hold you to it,” the director replied, sounding far less angry but no less annoyed than he had been previously. “Shield’s down Colonel, you and your team can come through.”

“Copy that,” he replied, piloting the jumper through the gate. “Let’s go home.”


	10. Conflicts of Interest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Atlantis gets wind of a hive about to attack the Travelers' new homeworld, Major Lorne and his team journey to warn them. Meanwhile, Todd makes a deal with a young queen unaware that in doing so he and Kate are about to end up on opposite sides...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of today, February 24, 2017, this chapter has been overhauled becasue I really, REALLY wasn't happy with the previous version. Plot wise not much has changed but if this is your second run through and you're wondering why things aren't the way you remember them, I'm sorry; I just couldn't reconcile myself to the way the last flowed. It sounded wrong so I fixed it which reminds me; the kiss is gone, you ahve been warned, please don't kill me!!! If anyone would like to know why send me a message and I'll gladly explain my thought process. If you have no idea what I'm talking about feel free to ignore everything I just said and enjoy your chapter. 
> 
> Cheers!

**Episode X: Conflict of Interest**

Colonel John Sheppard was having a bad day. Why you might ask? Well, in addition to sleeping though his alarm and missing breakfast this particular Tuesday happened to be training day and training day – no matter where you were stationed – sucked balls. Once a year Stargate Command specified an entire day to be dedicated to making sure everyone on base knew how to use all their equipment and by ‘all’ they truly did mean _all_. In groups of twenty Atlantis’ military personal were subjected to eight hours of death by power-point covering a variety of topics (everything from how to clean your gun to the correct way to hold a flashlight) and Tech Sergeant Rivers (who happened to be in _charge_ of training day), not only took his job way too seriously he had a stick shoved so far up his ass you could see it when he yawned.

The whole production was tedious and boring made worse by the fact that as CO the colonel couldn’t just zone out like everyone else. Instead, he had to stay awake and staying awake while listening to Rivers drone on and on was an absolute chore.

He needed a distraction, something to entertain himself with so his brain wouldn’t dribble out his ears.  He looked around, glancing first left then right until his eyes landed on Captain Vega sitting in front and just slightly to the left of him. Well that was fortunate; it’d been dark by the time he arrived, the first power-point already queued up and ready to go, Rivers glaring at them all to find a seat and hunker down. Trying not to step on anybody, John’d snagged the first desk he could get to without really checking to see who he was sitting by. Fortunately for him, the captain – along with the other two thirds of the unholy trinity – were in the row ahead of him, apparently passing a notebook back and forth. He craned his neck, leaning forwards at an angle in order to get a better look.

The page contained three distinct handwriting styles in two different colored inks and was easy to read even from two feet away. At the top was the question _‘What should I do?’_ in his sister’s easy to follow cursive followed by more of the same, ‘ _Attraction’s easy to deflect. Interest on the other hand, what the hell am I supposed to do with that?’_

His heart sank. Todd, of course they were talking about Todd because when were they not? Since Christmas it seemed all anyone ever wanted to talk about was Todd the fucking wraith and personally, John was a tired of it. He couldn’t complain however, since the conversation included Kate and Kate, ever since their stint on Todd’s hive, had been nothing but cagy whenever somebody tried to talk about their relationship. Her being secretive made John nervous, more so than usual, so any insight he thought he could get he’d take. In that interest, he scooched forwards, taking his chair with him as he gave every indication of trying to get a better look at the projector. Then, once he was sure he hadn’t aroused any suspicion, he went back to the page.

Vega, at least he thought it was Vega, had replied in red: _‘Play it up_. _He’s already more or less wrapped around your finger, think of what you could make him do if he actually thought he had a shot.’_

John frowned; apparently he and Vega needed to have a conversation.

 _‘I do not have him wrapped around my finger,’_ Kate protested, _‘We argue all the time and he still only listens to like half of what I say!’_

 _‘Well that’s still more then he listens to us,’_ Cadman pointed out, complete with atrocious handwriting and numerous spelling errors. _‘You talked him into playing strip poker and guzzlin’ half a bottle of vodka in one go. If that’s not wrapped around your finger I don’t what is.’_

 _‘Yeah and remember the kid?’_ Vega reminded them. _‘Sheppard sent him like twenty something messages and he didn’t respond. You sent him one and he was here literally an hour later. Explain that.’_

Kate huffed and snatched the notebook back. _‘I never said I don’t have power over him it’s just not as much as you seem to think it is. I don’t control him and I can’t really make him do anything that isn’t already on his agenda. It’s only sometimes he does what I say.’_

 _‘More than sometimes from what I hear,’_ Cadman argued, reaching over to write with her left hand while the notebook was still on Kate’s desk (apparently, she was ambidextrous). _‘Granted, I haven’t been here as long but from what I’ve heard, he does what you say more often then he refuses. Not to mention the things he lets you get away with.’_

 _‘Name one thing – ’_ Kate scribbled.

Vega knocked her hand away, _‘You shoved a cookie in his mouth!’_

John blinked, not sure he’d read that right. Kate’d done what!? When the hell has this happened?

 _‘And he didn’t even get mad,’_ Cadman continued, _‘You also kissed him not a day later which I still think was hilarious by the way. Wraith really aren’t meant to look bewildered. Maybe the next time ya’ll can’t agree on something you should try kissing him to shut him up.”_

 _‘Yes! Oh God,’_ Vega wrote, shoulders shaking in silent laughter, _‘Do it, I dare you.’_

 _‘No!’_  Kate responded, putting an emphasis on the word by underlining it several times. Her brother sighed in relief. _‘I’m not gonna kiss him just because you think it’d be funny. I did it once in order to get back at John not because I secretly wanted to experience kissing Todd. I’m not saying it was bad or anything but it was weird and I wasn’t kidding about those teeth. How ‘bout you go run your tongue along a razor blade and then get back to me. I’m not doing it again.’_

_‘Never? You sure? Never ever?’_

With a soft growl, Kate put pen to paper once more, a little more harshly than necessary, stabbing the pen at the page. _‘Are you saying you want me to encourage him? Why? He doesn’t need any help, trust me. He’s overconfident as is.’_

 _‘Which is why you just need to go with it,’_ Vega explained. ‘ _Todd strikes me as the type of guy who’s never had to seduce anyone in his life. He’s arrogant, probably thinks he can have anyone he wants, so you flirting with him’s not going to raise any red flags. Have some fun, I’m not asking you to sleep with him.’_

 _‘Oh yeah?’_ Kate scrawled, ‘ _And what happens when he gets tired of flirting and wants to take things to the next level? I already know he wants to fuck me, he’s flat out told me. You’re basically asking me to lead him on which isn’t gonna make him real happy when he figures out I’ve no intention of following through.’_

_‘So just tell him you’re not ready yet.’_

_‘And when I’m never ready? You both forget I’ve been inside his head, I know how he feels about betrayal and leading him on, using his feelings for me against him, he’ll take that as a personal betrayal which means we’re back to square one. Todd trusts me, respects me and considers me an equal – toying with his emotions just so we can lead him around by the nose instead of the other way around puts all that in jeopardy. I’m not risking my assignment just because you want me to ‘have a little fun’. The best thing I can do is make it clear I’m not interested and hope he takes the hint.’_

_‘Yeah but do you think he will?’_ asked Cadman, _‘I get the feeling he’s not exactly the giving up type.’_

_‘He will once he gets tired of waiting. Guys will only wait so long before realizing they’re not gonna get any, then they move on.’_

_‘I don’t think that’s gonna work with Todd,’_ Vega countered, _‘Especially not when he knows you’re at least curious.’_

 _‘I’m not curious!’_ Kate replied indignantly (and untruthfully), he could by the way her shoulders had tensed. Somebody was in denial. 

_‘Yeah you are, you’ve said so. Remember? You told us you told him that if you’re not careful Colonel Sheppard might actually have something he needs to worry about.’_

In the background, John struggled to keep his mouth shut while his sister started to fidget.   _‘Yeah okay, I said that but what I meant was – ’_

 _‘What you meant was you like him more than you should and are in danger of becoming as interested in him and he is in you,’_ Vega argued. _‘Face it Katie Beth, you may not be clamoring to sleep with him any time soon but you are attracted to him.’_

 _‘I am not!’_ she scribbled furiously, _‘He’s green! And veiny and his eyes are the wrong color. He doesn’t have eyebrows; his nose looks weird and those sensory pit thingies aren’t exactly what I’d call the epitome of cute. And let’s not forget his hair. I’ve asked – he doesn’t own a brush!’_

 _‘Complain all you want,’_ Vega replied _, ‘Me thinks the lady doth protest too much. You might not be attracted to him physically but you’ve said it yourself, looks aren’t everything.  Personality wise he’s got you; hook, line and sinker. Give it enough time you won’t care what he looks like and by then it’ll be too late.’_

There was a pause before Kate wrote, _‘Who’s side are you on?’_

That’s a good question, thought John darkly – frowning from his seat behind the three women as, to his left, a door opened and then somebody cleared their throat. Rivers’ sermon on proper radio maintenance dropped off as, together, twenty-one officers including the colonel turned their heads to find Mr. Woolsey standing just inside the entrance.  

“Can we help you Sir?” asked Rivers, managing somehow to sound both annoyed and respectful in the same sentence.

The director nodded, “Yes actually. I’m afraid I’m going to have to borrow Major Lorne and his team.”

Upon hearing his name, Evan Lorne suddenly became much more alert. “Is everything alright Sir?”

“I don’t know yet which is why I need you and your team ready to go as soon as possible,” Woolsey replied. “Is twenty minutes enough time?”

Lorne nodded, barely able to conceal his eagerness to be anywhere other than here. “If we hustle we could be ready in fifteen.”

Cadman snorted. “Not a chance. Have you seen how long it takes wonder woman to put on all her armor?”

The woman in question glared at her. “Oh yeah sure, throw me under the bus. It’s my fault it takes so long for us to get ready.”

Vega snickered.

Woolsey rolled his eyes, smirking indulgently at their antics before returned to Lorne. “Twenty minutes will be fine, Major,” he said, “I’ll meet you in the gateroom.”

With a nod, Lorne and his team wasted little time gathering their things while Rivers went back to his lecture on how to properly tune their radios. As they left, filing out of the room one by one, chortling laughter echoing back from down the hall, John slumped in his chair before hazarding a glance down at his watch. It was exactly eleven hundred, only six more hours to go.

Joy.

Training day sucked.

_~xXx~_

“So, where’re we going?”

Woolsey sighed. “Twelve hours ago our long range scanners picked up a hive dropping out of hyperspace. It’s not headed for us but we think it might be headed towards M82 – 543.”

Everyone except Kate groaned; M82 was the Traveler’s new homeworld and, supposedly, uninhabited – at least according to the galaxy at large.  “Well isn’t that just great,” said Vega dramatically, “They’re gonna think we narked on ‘em.”

Kate frowned. “Why would they?”

“Because they’re paranoid as all get out,” Vega replied. “Just watch, we show up and tell ‘em the wraith are coming and somehow we’ll get blamed for it.”

“I doubt it’ll come for that,” Woolsey said although personally he felt there was probably some truth to that prediction. The Travelers were notoriously cautious and tended to think everyone was out to get them unless proven otherwise, a point of view which reset during every encounter.

“Have we tried contacting them?” asked Lorne.

He nodded. “Several times, it appears the subspace com relay is out.”

“Well that’s a hell of a coincidence,” Kate muttered.

Cadman shrugged. “Maybe they’re just passing through?” she said optimistically. “M82’s supposedly uninhabited, right? Maybe the hive’s there for some other reason.”

“It’s possible,” Woolsey agreed, “But Kate’s right, it’s a hell of a coincidence. Personally I’d rather be sure.”

“So we’re warning them, is that what we’re doing?” Lorne guessed already picturing in his head how many ways this could end up backfiring.  “You know Vega’s right, right?  We show up, seemingly outta the blue, telling them the wraith are coming: if they believe us at all there’s like a ninety-five percent chance you’ll be sending somebody to come bail us out sometime in the next twelve hours.”

Woolsey grimaced. “That may be but they’re still our allies – we have to try. Doing nothing is not an option.”

“Guess not,” Lorne agreed sighing heavily, almost wishing he were back in the briefing room. The Travelers were worse than Todd on a good day; if by the time they got back none of them had been shot at, locked up or accused of anything he’d be very surprised. “Wish us luck,” he waved, leading the way down from the control room to the gate. “If we’re not back in two days send back-up. Preferably lots of it.”

“Hopefully you won’t need it,” Woolsey called back to them, his voice following them as they went through the gate. They came out on a dry, arid looking world that reminded Lorne strongly of his Uncle Mike’s ranch out in west Texas; complete with tumbleweeds blowing in the wind.

“So,” he asks, shielding his eyes from the suns’ rays (this planet happened to have two of them), “Which way you think?”

“That way,” Kate pointed, nodding at the footprints leading away from the gate.

Cadman grit her teeth. “Let’s get this over with.”

They set off following the tracks to a dried up river bed which seemed to be pulling overtime as a road. They followed it for half an hour, picking their way over boulders and fallen logs until Lorne was beginning to wonder if they were going in the right direction at all. He was about to say something when Kate, who was ahead of him, came to an abrupt halt and held up her fist.

“What is it?” he asked, coming to her side, “Do you see something?”

She shook her head, glancing at him briefly before flicking her eyes off to the right, towards the river bank. Bobbing his head in understanding, Lorne unclipped his P-90 and held it ready; signaling Cadman and Vega to do the same. Cautiously they crept forwards, moving slowly, deliberately; Kate in the lead, Cadman and Lorne on point with Vega covering their six. They’d gone maybe thirty yards when they heard it, a charging sound like Ronon’s gun made just before it fired.

Instinctively Kate threw herself in front of Lorne. “Everybody down!” she shouted.

The team obeyed, throwing themselves to the dirt and then to cover as the first of several red shots flew over their heads.

“Why are they shooting at us!?!” Cadman screamed, her finger itching to pull the trigger and pop one off towards their attackers.

“Because I told you, they’re fucking paranoid!”  cried Vega, ducking a shot as it sailed over her head; pressing herself into the dirt wall of the gully. “Shoot first ask questions later is kinda their thing.”

“Well then they need a new thing!” Cadman shouted back while Lorne, still crouched behind Kate, eyed the terrain trying to figure out their position.

“They’re to the west of us,” his human shield informed him, red shot bouncing off her armor harmlessly as she spoke. “Want me to take ‘em out?”

He nodded vigorously. “Yeah, but don’t kill anybody. Just get them to stop shooting at us.”

Tilting her head, she gave a single nod of acceptance then vanished; scaling the bank before disappearing into the undergrowth. Thirty seconds later Lorne heard the first shout and then another and another indicating she’d made contact. Eventually the shooting stopped, the shouting got louder and then, suddenly, it all got very quiet. Popping his head out from behind his rock Lorne looked around, squinting towards the trees before determining it safe enough to leave cover. With guns raised the three of them moved forwards, hauling themselves out of the ravine and into line as they headed into the trees. They found their first shooter a minute in lying face up on the ground, out cold; a bruise in the shape of an elbow blossoming over his right temple.

Vega’s eyes sparkled with a kind of sadistic glee. “Looks like Kate got him good,” she cackled not even the least bit sorry.

“Yeah really,” Cadman agreed, picking her way over him as they continued forwards. They found another three bodies before reaching a clearing where, to the collective surprise of all, their super solider was on the ground, the woman standing in front of her holding her at gun point.

“What the –”

The woman whipped around, taking her eyes off Kate just long enough for her to surge to her feet, grab the other woman’s gun hand, twist the weapon out of her grasp and then swipe her feet out from under her. She hit the ground with a thud, brown eyes glaring hatefully up at Kate who now stood over her.

Lorne snickered. “Hello Larrin.”

She glared at him; Kate raised an eyebrow. “Somebody you’re familiar with?”

He smiled, “Oh yeah. Larrin’s the ship captain who keeps tying the colonel to chairs.”

His teammate smirked. “Well John always did like a little BDSM.” She looked down at Larrin, “If I let you up, you promise to be good?”

Still glaring, the woman nodded; holding out a hand to be helped to her feet. As soon as she was up however, she lashed out, intentionally striking at Kate’s face. Her target dodged, grabbing her arm before using it to twist her around not unlike she’d done Teldy on the M74 mission. Larrin was pinned, unable to move and she wasn’t happy about it; twisting and pulling until finally she seemed to realize she wasn’t going anywhere.

“You finished?” asked Lorne.  

The Traveler glared at him. “She started it. She attacked my men.”

Vega scoffed. “Your men were shooting at us, what was she supposed to do?”

Larrin seemed to stop and consider that, resigning herself to the fact maybe Kate’s hostility was deserved with a visible sigh. “Fine,” she growled, teeth clenched as though the concession took a tremendous amount of effort, “I’ll be good. Promise.”

Her captor wasn’t convinced. “You sure?” she asks slowly, expression blank despite the incredulousness of her tone.

Larrin glared at her over her shoulder, scowling like there was no tomorrow until, with a sigh, Lorne told Kate to let her go.

She complied, stepping back and to the side as the alien woman shook her arms out, snatched her gun off the ground, scowled some more and then turned to face the major. “So what brings you here?” she asked still sounding resentful.

Having wasted enough time being shot at and then with Kate and Larrin’s little skirmish, Lorne decided it was probably better to just dive in. “Came to warn you,” he said without preamble, “We think there’s a hive on its way.”

Larrin’s eyes narrowed, her expression becoming unreadable. “You think?”

Cadman shrugged. “Well we tried contacting you but never got a response back and this system’s supposed to be uninhabited. They could just be passing through but, better safe than sorry right?”

“Makes sense.” The Traveler scowled, “You know I’m gonna have to take this to the council, don’t you?”

Lorne’s team gave a collective nod. She sighed, “Well then, we better get going. Help me wake my men and keep her away from them,” she said, nodding at Kate. “It’s a long walk back to the city so try and keep up.”

It was a long walk; the majority of which was all uphill as the group of nine trudged on, Kate trailing along at the back because none of the Travelers wanted to go near her after she’d collectively handed them their asses. Vega stayed with her while Lorne took the high road and struggled to keep up with Larrin as she lead them through the trees, winding a path that doubled back and looped around at least four times before spitting them out a top a cliff overlooking a city nestled at the base of a mountain. Even from a distance it was obvious it’d been built by the Ancients, the architecture strongly reminiscent of Atlantis with its tall towers, angled buildings and geometric windows glistening in the sunlight.  

“Nice,” Lorne said appreciatively, more to himself then Larrin although the woman nodded in agreement.   

“Before the war with the wraith it was a colony, a sister city to Atlantis and Avica,” she explained, leading the way down a steep incline towards the city gates. “The city was deserted when we came although several of our people have found artifacts and even some of their technology lying around. Apparently when the Ancients left, they left in a hurry.”

“Well that’s good for you,” Cadman commented, “Finders keepers and all that.”

“Indeed,” Larrin agreed, falling silent until the group reached the gate at which point her men were told to go inform the council of their coming while Lorne and his team were subjected to an extensive body search. Things escalated when it was discovered just how many guns Kate actually cared in that hard suit of hers.

“How do you walk?” Vega wanted to know, watching her teammate as she was aggressively relieved of all her weapons.

Kate glared at her.

“Screw that,” Cadman spoke up, “How have you never stabbed or shot yourself by accident?”

“Practice,” the super soldier ground out grabbing the hand of one of her examiners before it could dip below her belt. “Touch me there and you lose an eye.”

Larrin grinned, amused even though the woman was still very much a mystery. She wasn’t dressed like the other Atlantians and she was stronger than a woman her size should be. The fact she was there at all was highly suspicious – why would Atlantis send a warrior like her if all they were supposed to be doing was delivering a message? The woman, Kate she’d heard Major Lorne call her, looked as though she was ready for war.

As the searches concluded, their visitors grumbling, Larrin’s thoughts were put on hold as she pushed herself away from the wall and then gestured for them to continue following her. Briskly she set a pace leading them down a side street before heading up the city’s main thoroughfare, a long road which stretched the length of the entire settlement. The streets were deserted for the most part although occasionally someone would wander out of a building in order to look at them, their expressions over all suspicious and even accusatory the closer they got to the city’s center. Upon their arrival however, it took some ten minutes to climb the numerous flights of stairs leading up to the top of the ziggurat where the council hall and chambers were located.

By the time Larrin had waved open the doors and brought them into a long, high ceilinged hall similar to the event plaza they’d used to hold the McKay’s wedding reception, Lorne’s legs ached and he was pretty sure Cadman and Vega were in the same boat. Kate, he was willing to bet, was the only one not feeling the burn which, wisely, he made no comment on. At the end of the hall was a low wall draped in some kind of shimmery, velvety material which made it look like an altar and on which several works of Ancient craftsmanship had been displayed. Larrin caught him looking and explained how the items were their holiest relics before abruptly turning left down an adjacent side hall, eventually coming to stop before a set of ornately carved doors.

She knocked twice before nodding at the guards stationed on either side to open them, revealing another spectacular room Lorne and his team instantly recognized as the council chambers based on Colonel Sheppard’s many vivid descriptions.

The council was waiting for them, judgmentally watching from a row of high backed chairs on a raised dais opposite the doors. There were only four councilors out of seven which, to anyone who’d never dealt with them before, might’ve been considered a good thing – less people to have to deal with. Lorne on the other hand, saw the empty chairs and new immediately things were about to get absurdly complicated. The Travelers operated a lot like a wounded pack of wolves and wounded wolves who were missing half their pack tended to get more aggressive in order to compensate. If his team managed to get out of this without either being imprisoned or shot Major Lorne would be very surprised.

Larrin came to a halt at the foot of the dais. “Councilors,” she said, nodding in greeting before turning back to indicate Lorne and his team, “We have visitors.”

“So we can see,” said the man in the middle of the row of chairs wearing a chain of office and an expression of someone not easily impressed. “And who might you be?”

“Major Lorne, Sir. We’re from Atlantis.”

Four pairs of eyes narrowed suspiciously although the man didn’t seem surprised. “That much is obvious,” he sneered, flinty eyes darting over each of them in turn before settling squarely on Kate. “You, woman. You’re attired differently than the others, why? You look as though you’re preparing for war. Do you consider us your enemies?”

Kate scowled, this guy had some nerve. She could already tell this whole visit had been a horrible mistake. Allies or not it was very tempting to just let the wraith have them. “I’m a special kind of solider; stronger, faster. Just think of me as insurance.”

“Insurance of what?”

“That if you try anything it’ll be the last mistake you ever make.”

His eyes widened, nostrils flaring as the woman sitting to his left sat up and asked, “Is that a threat?”

Kate shook her head. “I don’t threaten. You asked me a question, I answered it. Not my fault you don’t like it.”

To the side, Larrin snickered. She might still be suspicious as hell of this woman but she _was_ beginning to like her. She reminded her of Sheppard.

The guy who’d originally asked the question glared at her before returning his gaze to Lorne. “You should tell your woman to be more respectful. These other two seem to know their place.”

Lorne laughed at that. “You obviously don’t know them very well. If I were you I’d be the one showing a little bit of respect, not the other way around.” He looked at Larrin, “I’m kinda surprised _you_ haven’t said anything.”

She shrugged. “What can I say, he’s my father’s brother.”

“Sucks to be you,” says Vega dryly. “Anyway, back to why we’re here.”

“Yes,” Larrin’s uncle states, “Tell us why you’re here. Is it to warn us perhaps?”

Lorne blinked. “So…you know then?”

He nodded. “We do. We’re very much aware there is a hive on its way although how they know we’re here has been a mystery. Until now.”

Cadman and Lorne’s eyes widened, surprised by the thinly veiled accusation. The other half their team looked like they’d expected it.

“Told you,” Vega muttered under her breath before saying louder, “Whatever it is you think we did, we didn’t do it.”

A councilwoman wearing an elaborate purple dress snorted. “You expect us to believe that?” she asked sounding as though even the thought was ludicrous. “You who have allied with the wraith, betrayed us in order to ensure your own precious city is spared? Do you really think we’re that stupid?”

Lorne bit back a groan. Damned wraith was more trouble than he was worth. “You’re talking about Todd aren’t you?”

“Todd who?” a councilman, younger than Larrin’s uncle and with dark hair, asked. “We speak of the wraith who – ”

“– Yeah, I know, we call him Todd – Colonel Sheppard’s idea,” he explained, finding the look on their faces to be somewhat comical. If only he had a camera, “You know, so we have something to call him other than ‘wraith’ and ‘hey you’. Doesn’t matter; Todd’s one wraith not all wraith. We work with him occasionally, most of the time out of dire necessity and we don’t even like him.”

“Then why continue to ally with him at all, allowing him use of your city’s resources and technology?”

“Because… it’s complicated and did you miss the part about ‘dire necessity’?” Lorne asked, “Look, he sometimes helps us and we help sometimes him – he even agreed to help us come up with a gene therapy that’ll make it so the wraith don’t have’t feed. That’s gotta be a first right?”

The other councilwoman, sterner looking and more matronly with silver hair, frowned. “You’re trying to fix the wraith when you should be trying to kill them?”

The major groaned. “You sound like Ronon. Look, Todd’s different than most wraith. He’s older, reasonably trustworthy and willing to work with us. He helped us with the replicators and he’s gotten a lot nicer since Kate here racked him and told him she’d shoot him if he didn’t start playing fair. All in all, he’s not a horrible ally to have.”

“And the fact you think that is highly disturbing,” Larrin’s uncle sneered. “The only good wraith’s a dead one, your inability to see that while in custodianship of the Ancestor’s city is troubling. And, the fact you’re even trying to defend him is, to me, further evidence your city is no longer a friend to the Travelers.”

Cadman snarled at him. “What exactly do you think our plan is?” she asked dangerously, “You claim we sold you out to the wraith; why would we? The fuck are we supposed to be getting outta this?”

“The same thing you’ve always wanted from us,” the woman in purple said, “Our ships.”

Kate’s eyes narrowed, Lorne was about ready to scream.  “God, not this again! For the last time we don’t want your damned ships!”

“Don’t you?” the younger councilman asked, “You tried to sabotage one of our fastest ships not even a year ago. I can only assume you thought by doing so we’d abandon it so you could return later, fix what you broke and claim it as your own.”

Three of the four of them blinked back at him looking especially exasperated. “The fuck is wrong with you!?!” Vega exploded after a long pause. “Where the hell do you come up with this shit!?!”

“So you deny trying to trick us into giving you one of our ships?”

“Yes!” Alicia exclaims, “I was there. Our teams were trying to help you fix your environmental systems when, all of a sudden, the ship’s engines started to go haywire. We weren’t even on that part of the ship and why the hell would we target a system that could’ve potentially gotten us all killed if we hadn’t’ve caught it in time? Huh? Explain that!”

Admittedly that was a good point and while Larrin, who was still standing, arms crossed, off to the side, listening, had to agree; it didn’t look like her Uncle Jarath or any the rest of the council was going to consider it.

“Our ships are some of the fastest in the stars,” Ava protested, her expression combative, crinkling her plum colored dress as she sat forwards. “How dare you imply – ”

“Oh, I’m not _implying_ anything,” the tech expert spat. “Half your fleet’s falling apart and the other half can barely fly. It’s a miracle those rust buckets of yours haven’t started falling outta the damned sky. No wonder you had to start setting up colonies – your ships are a fucking joke!”

The council glared at her. Cadman, meanwhile, laid a hand comfortingly on her the woman’s shoulder. “Easy there ‘Licia,” she whispered gently though she was smirking, “Now tell us how you really feel.”

Now scowling, Vega jerking away from Laura while Larrin, who personally thought this whole conversation was hilarious by the way, started to snicker.

Vega glared at her too. “Oh, yeah, very funny. Laugh it up bitch, let’s see how far you get with the colonel after we get back and tell him this.”

Her uncle cleared his throat. “Which is why you won’t be going back.”

Lorne frowned at him. “Come again?”

Glaring down his nose at them, the Lord Councilor of the Travelers drew himself up to his fullest height declaring, “Until your story can be verified or until we’re able to confirm the wraith are not here on your instruction you leave us no choice but to arrest you for treason and conspiring with the wraith. If you’re found innocent after your trial you will be released. If not, you will be sentenced to death at the hands of –”

“Hell! Fuck that!” Vega exclaimed, spinning wildly to face her more indomitable teammate. “You can still get us outta here right? Like, I know they took all your guns away but – ”

Councilwoman Ava scoffed, “I doubt one girl is capable of doing much damage, even one so heavily armored.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” quipped Cadman contentiously, taking a page out of Vega’s book on how to be hostile as she glared at the Traveler High council. “She’s a super solider who could kill you with a spoon. I heard she can kick Todd’s ass.”

And while both Ava and the younger man mouthed the word ‘spoon’ under their breaths, Larrin’s uncle and the remaining councilwoman looked a bit more alarmed by the second part of that statement along with the description in the first. “Super solider?” they echoed.

“Cadman, shhhh!” Lorne ordered, dismayed by the inadvertent reveal of their teammate’s abilities. There was now a very good chance they might come in handy later and he would’ve preferred they come as a surprise.

“You’re making a mistake,” he growled at Jarath, his teeth clenching when it appeared the Traveler remained unmoved. “We came to warn you as a courtesy. We’re your friends, your allies and before this is over I hope you realize that.”

“Then you’ve nothing to fear as we verify it,” Jarath remanded them, lifting himself from his chair as he gestured for the guards standing just outside the doors to come and lead them away. Disarmed, there was little the Atlantians could do to prevent themselves being taken into Traveler custody and as the council adjourned and Larrin levied a resentful look towards her uncle, Jarath turned to her and said, “I know you have great faith in these Atlantians but surely you must realize now they can no longer be trusted?”

His niece scowled. “No, I don’t know that. Vega’s right, it doesn’t make any sense. Sheppard and his team aren’t stupid.”

“Perhaps not, but this is not Sheppard’s team.”

Her conviction faltered, her expression closing off as she dropped her eyes and looked way. She felt a hand come to rest on her shoulder.

“There is something I need you to do for me.”

She looked up. “And what’s that?”

Jarath’s lips pursed. “Most of our people have already been evacuated to the hanger bay inside the mountain. There are however, several families I know who’ve settled outside the city gates. I need you to take the fastest shuttle and go retrieve them. Among them are Daamon’s parents.”

The mention of her childhood friend, the captain of the scouting ship that’d died making sure they knew the hive was coming, made Larrin’s throat close. “Yes sir,” she replied, taking her leave as she exited towards the shuttle bay, hoping there was enough time before the wraith arrived to complete this final task. Failure was not an option. 

~xXx~

_Meanwhile, on the hive approaching the Traveler’s planet…_

Ash-ka was young for a queen, almost laughably so; equivalent in age and development to a human not yet sixteenth. It was unusual to say the least and hardly ideal but, as the saying goes, desperate times called for desperate measures and with the death of her motem, Ash-ka had had little choice but to ascend the throne or watch her entire hive wither and then eventually die – another casualty of the seemingly endless war.

That did not make her happy about it.

While it was true that most queens’ daughters plotted and schemed for their motem’s deaths, Ash-ka had loved her motem unequivocally and, with her loss, had felt as though a part of her had died as well. She felt it still every time she walked past her motem’s now empty chambers or sat on her throne (for it still was _her_ throne, no matter what her sire said). Ash-ka knew in her heart she was not yet ready to be a queen and yet there was simply no other option. She’d done it to save her hive and to save her sire’s life after the primary had wanted to have him executed for a crime he did not commit. Ash-ka had assumed the throne in order to preserve her motem’s legacy and, having done so, was left angry and resentful of everyone and everything – acting out in ways she really ought not given the precariousness of her situation.  As long as her sovereignty remained untested the young queen knew she could ill afford to make any gratuitous mistakes by acting irrationally. But still, despite knowing this, Ash-ka had inadvertently done just that by allowing her curiosity to get the better of her.

It began when the commander of a rival hive belonging to a much larger faction had requested an audience and she, without so much as a thought to either the consequences or ramifications in allowing such a request, agreed; blindly, and stupidly, admitting him onto her hive without question simply to satisfy her own interests. An impossibly foolish mistake for in doing so, the most powerful male in all the stars now stood silently before her throne, an amused smile twisting at the corners of his mouth as he awaited her permission to speak.

The absurdity of such a notion was not lost on her. “Greetings, Eldest,” she began tentatively, attempting to mimic the way her motem used to greet visitors. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

Still amused, the eldest of wraith unabashedly looked her over, once up and then down before replying at length, “I’ve come to offer a proposal.”

Surprised, Ash-ka stared at him with an expression of shock. “What kind of proposal?” she asked levelly unable to imagine that of all the queens it was her the Eldest chose with which to make a deal.

Her visitor chuckled, amused both by her interpretation of his reasoning and by her youthful inability to successfully mask her emotions, the latter making it much more easy to craft his words in order to obtain a specific outcome. There was a reason he’d come to her rather than an elder, less impressionable female. 

Older queens were harder to manipulate.

“Nothing too untoward, I can assure you,” he entreated softly, tilting his head as he flattered her with a smile. “You see, we each have something the other wants.”

Given whom she was talking to, Ash-ka found that rather difficult to believe. “I somehow doubt that,” she replied harshly.

The Eldest chuckled. “Oh, you’d be surprised. Even I am not without limitation most specifically, the fact I am male. My hive is in need of a queen.”

For the second time in as many minutes, Ash-ka felt surprise flash across her face before she could hide it. Her throat seized and for a moment she felt a rush of pride well up inside her before common sense returned, reminding her to think with her mind rather than her emotions. She sneered at him, feeling confident enough to do so only because his suggestion was so absurd. Did he think her stupid or perhaps vain enough to believe he might want her as queen when Ash-ka herself knew such a notion was unreservedly ludicrous? Only an idiot would accept such a suggestion at anything more than face value and she, most certainly, was not an idiot. 

“Speak plainly, Eldest” she cautioned him, “I may be young but I am not a fool. Tell me what it is you really want.”

Favoring her another smile, her visitor bowed his head and hissed most proudly, “Your motem was not a fool either. I expected no less from her daughter.”

Releasing a reflexive gasp, Ash-ka felt her eyes widen. “You knew her?”

He inclined his head. “I did. Long ago before the hives, in a time when we wraith were still planet bound; I knew her well. I was…saddened to hear of her passing.”

Anger, red hot and pulsating, flashed through her before she could stop it, “She did not pass; she was _taken_ from me. She was – ” she cut off, breathing heavily to restore her calm. She should not have done that, should not have acted so impulsively again; exposing herself to such an exploitable weakness.

 _‘Words are like arrows, karra tula_ _1,’_ her sire had often told her, making her regret now more than ever her choice to dismiss him and treat with the Eldest herself, _‘Once they are loosened, they cannot easily be called back.’_

“Forgive me,” she recovered, once more doing her best to appear calm when in reality she was anything but. “My Hive Master often lectures me on the importance of tempering my emotions. I do not always listen. I assure you, it will not happen again.”

“There is little need for you to apologize,” replied the Eldest smoothly, his eyes shining with a calculating glint that made her extremely nervous. “You have every right to be angry at the one who took her from you.” His eyes narrowed and suddenly, the young queen knew what was coming before the accusation was even flung, “And yet…here you sit, having pledged your loyalty to none other than the one who took her life. Perhaps not the best way to remember her sacrifice.”

Ash-ka refused to rise to his bait. “I had no choice,” she explained carefully, calmly repeating the words she’d used on herself time and time again since the day she’d been presented her throne. “My motem gave her life to spare those who serve her our Primary’s wrath; to not submit afterwards would have corrupted her sacrifice. My need for vengeance is nothing compared to the lives of those I serve.”

“Pretty words,” the Eldest replied, fixing her with a glare as if to determine whether or not the sentiment was hers or simply one she was used to repeating. “Is that truly what you believe?”

She bowed her head. “I do. It is the duty of a queen to protect those she governs, to rule in their best interests rather than her own. In that way my motem was different than the other queens and, in her memory, it is how I desire to be as well. My needs must come last save when they affect the hive.”

“Ahhhh…” the Eldest smiled, pleased. Aavera had been a friend, a confidant of his for many years before the war and then again for many centuries after it. He’d not been lying when he’d said he’d been saddened to hear of her demise.  

Her daughter cleared her throat. “Enough,” she proclaimed sternly, a glint of steel appearing in the shadows of her eyes. She’d had her fill of this game, “What do you want from me?”

He cocked his head, smile lingering as he clasped his hands behind his back and moved forwards. “Is it as I said, my alliance is in need of a queen and though you are young, you have proven yourself wiser than many your peers.  A true queen rules not for herself but for others, sacrificing her own desires for the good of those who have pledged her their loyalty. It is what I would have done were I in your position.”

Her eyes narrowed and, in that instant, knew why he was here, “So I see.”

He frowned, his expression inviting her to explain.

His host was only too happy to oblige him. “You are asking me to be your queen not because it is your own desire but because it is the desire of those you command. It must be for though your place in our hierarchy affords you much the same power and influence as a queen, there are some things which even you cannot do. You are here to maintain order, to provide for them what they want before they break from you in order to seek it themselves. In other words, you need me much more than I need you.”

He cursed, swearing under his breath at her level of perceptiveness and how true her statement was. He had chosen her for her intelligence and so he shouldn’t be surprised when she chose to use it. Still, he had hoped she would not catch on to that particular caveat until much later. Regardless, he was not about to let himself be outplayed. Defeat was something he’d admit to only as a last resort.

“I disagree. I need you yes in order to quell any thoughts of rebellion or treachery currently circulating though my ranks but what is more, I have the ability to give you something I know you desperately want.”

Her brow furrowed. “And that is?”

He hissed, “Vengeance.”

Her eyes widened. “What do you – ”

“Do not pretend ignorance queenling, we have both established you are anything but unintelligent. While your youth is a deterrent in many ways it has no bearing on your ability to understand my offer. You cannot seek the vengeance you desire without fear of reprisal, I can. Agree to my terms and I will bring you the head of the one who took your motem from you.”

“Think you I can be so easily bought!?!” she exclaimed, growling as she dug her fingers into the arms of her throne. “What of my own pledge of loyalty or that of those who serve me on this hive? You would have me break my vow and by so doing theirs as well solely in order to appease my own thirst for retribution. If I agree what does that say of me?”

“It says you are no different than any other queen.”

“I have no desire to _be_ like every other queen!!” She sounded offended, “Offer me something else, something that is of benefit to my hive, to those who serve me, and not just myself.”

Dismayed, the Eldest snarled; displeased by the thought of offering more when he’d been so certain she’d agree to his proposal. Now he had to come up with something else.

“Very well,” he said after a moment’s pause, his tone as begrudging as the look on his face. A warning that from this point forwards his patience was not to be tested. Ash-ka swallowed heavily.  

“Then consider this, your majesty: your youth is seen by most others as a liability, something to be taken advantage of and used in order to manipulate and control. I know there are those who have tried, your primary chief among them and I know you have only survived due to the unwavering council of your sire who also serves as your current Hive Master. His influence on you is dangerous, much more so for him than you. Already there has been at least one attempt on his life and none the three of us are foolish enough to think there will not be more. If you want him to live, which I assume you do given the lengths you went to in order to save him, you will have to set him aside and find a new Hive Master whose reputation, hopefully, will be above reproach. Only then will you and your hive be sufficiently protected.”

“I see,” she replied softly, knowing his statement to be true even if she did not want to admit it. Her eyes narrowed, “What are your terms?”

The Eldest smirked. “What makes you think there are any?”

Ash-ka scoffed, “Because I am not a fool. I know your reputation; I know your loyalty is extended only so far as it is useful. You will bow to me in public, swear fealty in front of whoever demands it of you but you won’t hold it.  I am not stupid enough to think you will ever truly be mine so tell me, plainly this time: if I agree, what terms would you set for me? What concessions must I be willing to make for you?”

“Freedom,” the male replied, more impressed than aggravated as he knew he should be. Aavera’s daughter was indeed surpassing his expectations. “It is my alliance that needs a queen, not me and if you accept you will be given full control over all those under my command save my second and, most obviously, myself. For appearance though I can assure you, no one but the three of us will be any the wiser. For all intents and purposes you will be seen as the queen who… _conquered_ the Eldest.”

Ash-ka blinked. “You think that would be easily believed?”

He shrugged. “Enough females have tried believing they will be the ones to succeed that convincing them another has should not be overly difficult. Even if we say nothing that is still likely to be the conclusion everyone draws. Try not to let it concern you; I assure you it does not concern me.”

She frowned but made no further comment choosing instead to sink back into her throne in a rather un-queen like manner in order to consider his proposal. It was not disingenuous and all things considered his continued freedom to do as he pleased was a small price to pay for what she was being given. Logically she knew she would be a fool to refuse not only because it was the Eldest’s request but because agreeing would guarantee the safety of those her motem had died in order to protect. Nothing was assured of course, the wraith were still at war, but an attack on her hive, or any hive while under his protection was far less likely than an attack while under the protection of anyone else.

She decided, “Very well, I agree to your terms. Protect my hive and bring me the primary’s head and I will allow you to keep your liberty, expecting nothing from you save the pretense of your submission when it is needed.”

The Eldest smiled. “Done. I look forwards to introducing you to my alliance. Now, if you have no further need of me, I trust I may return to my transport?”

Regretfully she shook her head. “Alas, I cannot. Not at this time. You see, when I agreed to meet with you I had already accepted a mission on behalf of the primary. My navigator took us to hyperspace moments after you arrived and if it were not for the fact this mission is for the good of all wraith I might’ve been able to postpone it long enough for you to leave. As it is not and time is of the essence, I beg your patience until it is completed. You have my word it will not take long.”

Her guest gave a hiss of annoyance, displeased by the thought of lingering any longer than was strictly necessary. It had not been part of his plan. “There are a number of things I must tend to, all matters of importance which cannot wait. If I could please have the appropriate accommodation…”

Nodding, the queen waved her hand in a casual dismissal that saw him gone from her sight with scarcely a second look. He’d made it only a dozen or so steps before feeling the prickling awareness of another’s presence teasing the back of his mind. The Eldest turned, eyes narrowed, just as the queen’s sire stepped from the shadows; amber eyes flashing with a deep dislike the Hive Master made no attempt to hide.

The Elder wraith cocked his head, more amused then offended by the other’s skulking. “Does your daughter know you often make it habit to listen to her private conversations?”

The hive master snarled, unafraid of the one who stood before him in a way very few were. The Eldest was not the only wraith born of a time long past and while they may not be equal in number of years there was far less a distance between them then between them and the majority. “It is well I did,” he growled scornfully. “Dishonorable. You present yourself as one to be trusted, one who desires to offer assistance when in reality you are like all the others taking advantage of her youth and naivete. If her motem were still alive she would not have accepted such terms from you. She would not have settled for anything other than an absolute surrender.”

The Eldest laughed. “You may think so but no – Aavera would not have been foolish enough to demand such a thing from me.”

The Hive Master glared, his eyes narrowing to virtual slits at the insouciant drop of his kaara’s2 name. “Because you are Eldest?” he spat derisively.

His rival smirked, “Because I am Valloran3.”

The effect was immediate. With palpable surprise, the Hive Master stared at him in a mixture of shock and paramount dismay; fear curling at the base of his spine in response to a name he was sure had not been spoken aloud in nearly a hundred centuries. “You…”

The Eldest’s smirk widened. “Ahhhh…I see you’ve heard of me.”

Ash-ka’s sire could do little more than gape; all previously held convictions and assurances vanishing with the knowledge that the Eldest of wraith was in fact the former Lord Commander. “Forgive me, I – ”

His hive’s guest snarled, “Spare me your regrets Hive Master; they are of no use to me. Instead, I ask simply that you refrain from making any further attempts to circumvent my authority. A generous offer, all things considered. Would you not agree?”

To this the other wraith had no reply, choosing instead to simply nod his affirmation before disappearing presumably to confer with his daughter. Satisfied, the Eldest continued his way down the hall towards the guest quarters and the accommodations promised him.

~xXx~

It took an hour to prep the shuttle and reach the farm Daamon’s parents had settled well past the city gates. Larrin cursed as she touched down, jumping out in order to meet his mother and sister who had seen her flying over and come out to meet her. With haste she explained the situation and impressed upon them the need to hurry. It took another half hour before they were ready to go having sent their youngest son, Raamon, into the fields to call back his father, uncles and older brothers. By the time they were ready to take off Larrin could hear the familiar whine of the darts as they approached the city. 

“Fuck,” she snarled, jumping into the pilot’s seat to begin power-up, beating the console when it didn’t immediately light up. “Everybody hold on!"

Her passengers braced themselves while the back hatch began to rise. Before it could close however, Daamon’s wife cried out, “Wait!”

Larrin froze; hand already on the throttle as she twisted around to look behind her. “What?”

The mother didn’t answer, too busy questioning her children, "Where’s your sister? Where’s Sara?"

The boys all shook their heads while Taren, who was oldest, pulled at her sleeve. "She went back for the picture of grandmotem."

A hand flew to the widow’s mouth as she stood and slapped her hand over the release for the back door, halting it from closing. Larrin had no doubt she would’ve darted back out in order to go retrieve her daughter had the captain not stopped her. “No wait, let me.”

Daamon’s wife looked at her with wide eyes. “Larrin, you can’t – ”

Her husband’s friend wasn’t having it. “You’re six months pregnant Jase, I’m faster. Tommen, take the controls. Take off as soon as Sara’s on board.”

With a nod Daamon’s brother moved to the pilot’s chair while Larrin raced off the craft in search of the little girl. Overhead, the whining was getting louder, the darts closer, her feet pounding the ground as she ran. Entering the house, she found the child digging through the cupboards in the kitchen, looking for the treasured photograph. Larrin grabbed her; hauling her into her arms despite her cries and her flailing arms, turning on her heel in order to hurry back as fast as her legs could carry her.

"Faster! They’re coming, faster!!!!" the others called as Larrin, breathing heavily, chanced a glance over her shoulder, fear creeping up her spine as a single dart broke formation and headed towards them.

She wasn’t going to make it, not with Sara in her arms. “Go!” she cried, pushing the little girl towards the shuttle. “Go now, run!”

“B-but Larrin! What about – ”

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. I always am. Run!”

Sara’s lip trembled. “B-but – ”

"GO!" she screamed, turning around in order to face the dart. Behind her she heard Sara’s mother scream her child’s name and then she was running. Larrin stayed where she was knowing the dart wouldn’t case them if she was caught so she let herself be taken, smiling inwardly as the shuttle took off, climbing higher as the pale beam passed over her and all went black.

~xXx~

In accordance with their agreement, Ash-ka found her guest on the bridge when her hive reached its coordinates; standing at the bow, his hands folded behind his back while her sire cast furtive glances in his direction. Odd, but she assumed it was because of their talk, the knowledge he would soon be supplanted by a wraith of the Eldest’s choosing while he himself was sent to another hive. When she’d told him, he’d been summarily less than pleased not about losing his position but in being removed from her side.

“You would send me away, daughter?” he’d asked her, clearly pained by her new directive. “Have you no further use for me now you are queen?”

Ash-ka had shaken her head. “No, I have every use for you. You are my sire. I will always have need of your guidance and your protection but it not wrong of me I should want you to live to be able to give it. I have already lost one of my parents to the safety of this hive, I couldn’t stand to lose another. You must leave if you are to be safe and I need you to be safe Sire, both as your daughter and your queen. I will order you if I must but I prefer you go willingly.”

“Very well,” he’d eventually agreed, although it had been obvious he did not wish to. He’d left her then to see to preparations for their arrival, coordinating with the Dart Master, his Second and the Master at Arms before retreating to the bridge where she found him now; discreetly glaring at the Eldest with alternating looks of dislike and dismay, his expression closed.

She greeted him wordlessly, nodding once in his direction before going to join her guest at the bow. “Beautiful is it not?” she asked, coming to rest beside him.

He spared her a glance, tipping his head in acknowledgement of her presence. “Most planets are. One must wonder why this one has been deemed so dangerous?”

The queen smirked in anticipation of her answer. “It belongs to a race of humans rumored to be allies of Atlantis.”

“Oh?” His pulse quickened, returning to normal within the next hair’s breadth of a second; the discrepancy too quick for anyone to have noticed.

She nodded; completely unaware her statement had had any impact. “They call themselves the Travelers and for generations they have made their homes in numerous Lantean ships salvaged from the war. For centuries they’ve evaded us but, most recently, we’ve received intelligence that their fleet is failing, falling apart at the seams and, in some cases, falling from the sky. To compensate they’ve begun colonizing worlds and this one is home to their new capitol.”

He studied her, glancing sideways in what appeared to be only a mild case of interest when in fact he was scrutinizing her heavily. “And you know this how?”

“We seized one of their ships,” she said proudly, “And while it’s captain at first did not wish to surrender the information my Hive Master was eventually able to liberate the knowledge we required. Our primary then ordered us to exterminate them in the hope that doing so would in turn weaken Atlantis.”

“Impressive,” the Eldest remarked, giving credit where it was due even if he had a feeling things were about to become decidedly more complicated. They always were whenever Atlantis or any of her allies were involved, nothing ever seemed to go the way it was supposed to no matter how carefully he or any other planned.

Perhaps it was time to play the devil’s advocate, a curious expression he’d learned from Sheppard which was no less applicable given the circumstance. “It is possible however; these Travelers are aware they are about to suffer an attack. If, as you say, they are allies of Atlantis then it is possible they have been warned.”

Glibly, the young queen shook her head, a small smile twisting at the corners of her mouth. “Before you arrived, I instructed my hive to disable their subspace communications relay. Even if Atlantis or another of their allies wished to warn them the message would not be received until it was too late to mount a defense.”

“Let us hope not,” he replied, as of yet still skeptical things would go as smoothly as the young queen anticipated. “But if I have learned anything since the Atlantians arrival it is never to underestimate them nor those who call themselves their allies. They’ve a particular proclivity for proving more resourceful then we give them credit for.”

Frowning, Ash-ka herself fell silent, unsure how to follow such an avowal before deciding she couldn’t without sounding impetuous. Meanwhile, on the planet below, the humans she and her hive had been sent to cull were facing a different calamity. The last shuttle had returned and with it news of Larrin’s capture which her uncle, as sanctimonious as he sometimes was, had not been prepared for.  

He crashed, hard, and Lorne and his team were there to see it; their hands and feet bound, completely weaponless, wearing identical expressions of ‘we told you so’ along with some epic frowns.

Jareth had glared but refused concession instead wailing about how he was supposed to tell his brother he’d almost certainly ordered his daughter to her death. Both his wife and the other councilors tried to console him but to no avail.

Vega on the other hand, who had just a little bit of a vindictive streak (or a lot of one if you were asking Cadman or Kate), decided to get her revenge by rubbing salt in the wound. “Well ya know,” she drawled scathingly, “If you hadn’t spent so much time accusing us of something we didn’t do she might’ve been back in time.”

The entire council plus Jareth’s wife glared at her.

Lorne elbowed her in the ribs. “Captain,” he hissed reproachfully.

Alicia Vega didn’t look the least bit apologetic. “What?” she demanded, splaying her hands as much as she could given their restraints. “It’s true. If he hadn’t waisted so much time arguing with us – ”

“That’s not the point,” he reprimanded her. “The point is Larrin’s been culled and you don’t need to rub it in.”

Vega pouted. “Well then what _can_ I do?”

“Help me think of a way to get her back,” her commander replied.

His teammate stared at him, so did everybody else. “Such as?” councilwoman Jayda – the stern one with silver hair – asked leadingly.

Lorne shrugged. “Don’t know yet, that’s why I asked for ideas. I don’t know if you know this but daring rescues with very little chance of success are kinda our thing.”

Jareth sighed, wanting to believe there was still a chance to save her but knowing there wasn’t. The wraith didn’t negotiate, not with humans. Whatever hope the Atlanteans offered was a false one. “There won’t be a rescue, as much as I appreciate your offer there is no getting her back without risking more lives than hers is worth. It is regretful but there’s nothing we can do.”

“But Chancellor,” Councilman Weaver argued, “Surely with the Atlantian’s help –”

“Are you suggesting we attempt to _bargain_ with the wraith? Perhaps offer them a trade?” Jareth shook his head, “We are chattel to them, unimportant save for the nourishment our lives offer. They would never agree.”

“Yes, but maybe – ”

“Let me send a message to the hive.”

Jareth stopped, turning to look inquisitively at the woman in armor. “Why?”

Lorne looked at her too. “Yeah Kate, where’re you going with this?”

“I can get them to trade.”

“How?” demanded the woman in Purple.

“By making them an offer they can’t refuse,” she replied.

Major Lorne had a disturbing idea he knew where this was going. “You mean you?”

She nodded.

He made a face. “How does that help Larrin?”

“Well it’ll get me up to the hive.”

“At which point you’ll do what, take on ten thousand wraith all by yourself?” Lorne wasn’t convinced, “Even you aren’t _that_ good.”

His teammate rolled her eyes, “I don’t need to be _that_ good. I just need to be able to get on, find her and then get off again without getting caught.”

“And how do you plan on doing that!?!” he wanted to know, “You don’t even know where she’s going to be.”

“I’ve got a reasonable guess and if not I’ll just hack a terminal and find out.”

“Hack a terminal, that’s your plan?”

She shrugged, “Most hives have pretty much the same floor plan and having been literally all over Todd’s I’ve a pretty good idea where everything is. Plus, he did teach me to fly a dart so that’s the escape part covered. It’s a good plan and, honestly, it’s the only one we’ve got.”

“She’s got a point,” Vega agreed, twisting to face her, “When’d he teach you to fly a dart?”

“Yeah, was it before or after you braided each other’s hair and played dress up?” asked Cadman.

The pair of them received a glare from their friend while Lorne – and everyone else in the immediate vicinity –  took turns staring incredulously between the three of them as though trying to figure out whether or not that was a joke or if they were being serious. Personally, Lorne really hoped it wasn’t the latter.

“Ok look, it doesn’t matter when he taught her, what matters is she knows.” He turned to the Travelers, “So, we gonna do this or not?”

The council hesitated, turning to Jareth for direction only to find him critically eyeing the woman in armor with a calculating glare. As much as he wanted to take what she was offering there was an immediate flaw in her reasoning, something pivotal that had been overlooked and needed to be addressed, “You say you can navigate once onboard the hive and I believe you, but what makes you certain the queen will even agree to trade with you in the first place?”

Kate smiled. “Because I’m Colonel Sheppard’s sister. She’d be stupid not to.”

Her announcement was met with wide-eyed silence.

~xXx~

_Meanwhile…_

Ash-ka’s dart master found himself in a difficult position. Relatively young in comparison to the Hive Master and their queen’s guest, he was still by no means inexperienced when it came to hive matters which was why the condition of the returning darts unequivocally baffled him.

They were empty and, more to the point; none of their scans had detected so much as a single human life despite scouring the majority of the planet’s surface. Only one had returned with cargo that, upon extraction, revealed a single human female as the only captive. Knowing their Primary’s disposition and how desperately she’d wanted these humans annihilated, the dart master feared informing his queen of this failure but knew it had to be done. So he went himself, declining the offer from one of his subordinates to deliver the message for him, appearing without a summons on the bridge where his queen, the hive commander, her council and the Eldest stood waiting.

He bowed low, awaiting permission to speak.

“Well?” his queen questioned.

The dart master tensed visibly, making no effort to hide his anxiety. She might miss it but the Hive Master wouldn’t so there was little point in attempting subterfuge. Besides, honesty was a trait his previous queen had insisted upon. He would not dishonor her daughter by lying, “The darts have returned my Queen. All but one empty.”

Ash-ka’s eyes widened, shock transforming her features into an expression of wide eyed astonishment. “What!?!” she demanded, her mouth agape, “How is that possible!?!”

The dart master shook his head, deeply apologetic it was he who had to deliver this information. “I do not know my Queen. Our scans showed no visible life signs. It is possible the intelligence the human captain gave us was false.”

“Possible but unlikely,” the Hive Master objected, speaking when it seemed his daughter was unable to do so. He probed her mind gently and, upon finding it in turmoil, attempted to calm her as best he could. Now was not the time for her to lose her temper. “More likely than not they are simply hiding.”

“Yes, but _how_ would they know to do so?” the queen inquired, recovering from her initial shock. “We disabled their relay, there is no possible way for them to have known we were coming.”

“You disabled their relay but there are other entities capable of having detected your ship as it traveled,” the Eldest reminded her. “It is possible that upon realizing an attempt at communication was unsuccessful one of them decided to go and warn them of your expected arrival and if I had to guess, I believe the humans of Atlantis the most likely suspects.”

Ash-ka fumed, both angry and disappointed she had not thought of this. Her attention returned to the dart master, “Bring me the human captured. We shall see what they have to say of this.”

With a nod the subordinate retreated, grateful she did not appear too upset as he quickly returned to the repository. The human female had been subdued, tranquilized according to the lieutenant that met him, because she’d refused to cooperate and had already injured three of their drones. Amused slightly but also annoyed he ordered her transferred to his custody before returning with her to the bridge where she was dropped, unceremoniously, at the queen’s feet.

Ash-ka sneered, swooping down to grab the human by the throat. “Where are the rest of you?” she hissed dangerously, flexing her fingers until the woman choked, gasping for air, “And how did you know we were coming?”

“Fuck…you,” Larrin spat, defiant despite the fact she could barely breathe, “Go t’ hell!”

The queen snarled, releasing her into a heap on the floor; satisfied only by her rasping breathes and painful panting. As much as she wanted to make her suffer, to punish her for daring to defy the wraith, Ash-ka knew she needed her alive if only to extract information.

She turned to the Eldest, “Your reputation suggests you have an affinity for extracting information even from the most unwilling informants.”

“I do,” he acknowledged.

She growled, glaring scornfully at the human even as she said, “Then I think perhaps you should be the one to question her, if it pleases you.”

“By all means,” he complied smoothly, bowing slightly in acceptance of the task before striding forwards to collect the fallen female from the floor. She struggled weakly, making a great show of dragging her feet while repeatedly trying to bat his hand away, neither of which was enough to have any real effect as he steered her along – traversing the vacant passageways until they reached one of the hive’s many interrogation rooms. She was released immediately upon arrival, thrust forwards into an awaiting cell at which point he found himself able to study her much more clearly.

He recognized her almost instantly. “Your name is Larrin is it not?”

The female jerked, surprise flooding her features as she hauled herself up in order to face him, “The fuck do you know my name!?!” she demanded.

The creature chuckled, her countenance reminding him all too greatly of another human with whom he had a begrudging acquaintance. “I know to you humans all wraith may look alike but, this is not the first time you and I have met.”

Forehead creasing, Larrin felt herself frown. Admittedly he did look familiar. Maybe not so much in body, he was tall and broad like most wraith but his face, there was defiantly something about his face – most specifically his tattoo – that struck a chord.

“I don’t suppose you’d give me a hint?” she inquired coolly, trying her level best to sound less disturbed with the encounter than she really was. Wraith recognizing humans was almost never a good sign, “I’ve seen a lot of wraith in my life, most of them dead.”

Her captor snorted. “Your attempts at humor are almost as pitiful as Sheppard’s,” he commented dryly.

Eyes wide, Larrin instantly realized who she was talking to. “Todd. You’re Todd.”

“I am,” he acknowledged, pleased. “Now, perhaps you would be kind enough to answer my questions?”

“Which are what, exactly?” asked Larrin who, despite now knowing his identity felt no better about her situation. According to Sheppard, Todd was a manipulative asshole who he wanted to shoot ninety-nine percent of the time. It was difficult to imagine her impression would be any different.  “And why should I tell you?”

“Because if all goes well, I may be able to get you out of here.”

Bribery. If she were anyone else she might be tempted to take it. “Why do you care?”

“I don’t,” the wraith replied, considering her thoughtfully before adding, “I’ll pay you the compliment of not insulting your intelligence with false platitudes. Whether you live or die it makes no difference to me however; as you are important to Sheppard, saving you may yet be of use. It is, at the very least, a course worth pursuing. Assuming you can be reasoned with.”

That last part sounded like a question. “Well, that depends,” she said bravely, much more bravely than she felt. For a supposedly tame wraith – and she used that word _very_ loosely – he certainly was intimidating. How did Sheppard deal with him? “What is it you want to know?”

He hissed, “For starters, how exactly did you learn about the attack? I assume you had advanced warning.”

“Not very advanced,” she confided deciding to give him the least helpful bit of information she could in hopes it would be enough; the less he knew the better. “The ship you captured, it sent a message before it was destroyed. Told us you were on your way.”

The truth, he realized, or at least a part of it. Todd could sense there was yet more she was unwilling to tell him. “Is that all?” he asked leadingly.

“’S all you’re getting,” she replied stubbornly, not wanting to bring up Atlantis if she didn’t have to. Her uncle might not trust them but she did and it really didn’t matter anyway – Lorne and his team were probably long gone. Telling him would accomplish nothing.

“Oh, I doubt it,” Todd countered, plucking the stray thought from her mind as easily as he would a flower from its stalk. The human seemed bothered, alarmed even if the expression on her face was anything to go by, and for a moment he felt guilty to have invaded her privacy. It passed quickly though, much more quickly than it had the last time he’d been caught, by Katherine no less, which, considering his regard for her wasn’t really all that surprising. He really didn’t care if Larrin felt violated.

“Which team?”

The Traveler glared at him. “Fuck you!!” she snarled viciously, furious at the reminder of how easily the wraith could read her mind. 

Todd sighed. “I don’t suppose you’d believe me were I to explain it is sometimes more difficult to keep human thoughts out then to it is to deliberately take them?”

She didn’t answer, her eyes narrowing. Todd sighed again, “It was not my intention to invade your privacy but, if you refuse to tell me what I want to know then I’ll have no choice but to do as you fear and take it by force. I need to know which team Atlantis sent.”

Larrin’s glare intensified. “What difference does it make?” she scowled, “It’s not like you actually care about them so why should I – ”

What little patience Sheppard’s ally had been perilously clinging to promptly vanished along with all traces of human civility. “Very well,” he said tiredly letting her think she’d won for perhaps half a second before ruthlessly plunging his mind into hers only to be met with a resistance worthy of the only human he’d ever esteemed. That didn’t stop him from continuing however, pushing forwards despite her mental anguish for while she may have had Katherine’s defiance she had little strength and even less fury. He withdrew only when he had the information he needed.

Larrin, meanwhile, collapsed to the floor. “You _bastard_!” she screeched, clenching her teeth to try and counter the effects of having her mind literally raped by Todd the fucking wraith. “When I get out of here, you’re dead!”

“If,” replied Todd absently, his own mind carefully tracking the knowledge it had so recently gained. Major Lorne’s team, _Katherine_ , his thoughts supplied, never so unhappy to hear of her involvement until now. This complicated things. If nothing else his services would be required in order to mitigate the damage. At worst, as long as the Atlantians didn’t try anything stupid like attempting a rescue things should be…

He trailed off suddenly realizing that in all actuality that was _exactly_ what they would likely try and do. _Fuck!_ he cursed silently, borrowing the appropriate human explicative as he abruptly and without warning spun on his heel – quitting the room without so much as another word, ignoring Larrin as she called out; demanding in a shrieking voice to know where he was going and what would happen to her.

When he reached the bridge, he dutifully informed the queen what he had learned: disclosing the truth about his allies only to the point they were involved, failing to correct her when she and her council assumed Colonel Sheppard to be the responsible party. He also lied through his teeth by telling her he’d purged the Traveler’s mind himself and come up with no other useful information.

The queen had praised him, “Well done, Eldest. Your reputation does you credit,” before turning to her Hive Master and her other commanding officers, insisting they come up with a plan to capture the humans and punish them for their defiance.

That plan, however, came to a screeching halt with the arrival of one of the officers in charge of monitoring incoming communications sporting a grin almost too wide to contain. Todd felt annoyance creep up the back of his spine; his allies were so predictable.

“Yes?” the queen demanded, irritated by the interruption. “What is it?”

The wraith bowed to her. “My Queen, we’ve received a message from the planet below. The humans wish to offer us a trade, one of theirs for the female we have already captured.”

The young monarch drew her brows together, surprised but also confused. “All humans have the same value, why would they think we would accept?”

His grin widened taking on a predatory, malicious quality that set Todd’s teeth on edge. And because he knew them, it was with sudden clarity he realized what was coming next. “Because the one they wish to give us is Colonel Sheppard’s sister, Katherine of Atlantis.”

The bridge was quiet, each wraith silently thinking of what this could mean. The queen was happy, her officers intrigued whilst Todd felt true fear race down his spine; turning his blood to ice at the mere mention of Katherine’s name. No, he thought desperately, not this, not _her_. Didn’t the humans have someone else they would barter with? Someone equally as valuable?

 _There is no one ‘equally’ as valuable_ , his thoughts betrayed him; distracting him from hearing the queen’s order to send a dart. He’d known his allies likely to attempt a rescue but he had _not_ been expecting this. He’d imagined they might _all_ come or that maybe they would attempt to entice Ash-ka into making the exchange on the ground where they could then spring an ambush. It had never occurred to him Katherine might try to infiltrate the hive by herself and it was only through a supreme amount of self-control he forced himself not to react, to _not_ start breathing quickly, to remain impassive; clenching his fists as he waited the appropriate amount of time before requesting permission leave.

His request was granted with a dismissive wave of the queen’s hand, her mind already occupied by the prize she was about to acquire and how best to utilize it. Todd meanwhile, returned to his quarters, sealing himself behind the double doors as he began to pace, wildly – trying in vain to understand how he’d not seen this coming.

“Damn!” he snarled furiously, molten hot anger making his blood boil as he tried to follow the logic that might have led her to making such a proposition.

It was difficult to fathom given how well he knew her, or how well he thought he knew her as the case may be. Katherine was no novice when it came to strategy so trying to figure out why she felt the need to put herself in such needless danger in order to rescue someone whose life was worth significantly less than hers was baffling. However, although certainly more tactically attuned, she was still Atlantian and the Atlantians (in particular Sheppard) did have a particularly infuriating proclivity for risking the many in order to save the few. There was even an aphorism – what was it again? Leave no man behind or some other such absurdity.

The entre notion was ridiculous and, suppressing a growl, Todd felt his fists clench; infuriated by his allies’ startling inability to grasp the fact that some lives just had more value in them than others. His for example, or Katherine’s, Sheppard’s, Woolsey’s even (dare he think it) the infuriating Dr. McKay’s.  Given the way she was treated he gathered she was rather important, her skills and ability alone a near priceless commodity and her rank – all evidence proving her presence in the lives of Atlantis’ inhabitants was intrinsically valued. Why, then, would those above her allow her to so carelessly throw it all away?

 _Perhaps they are blind?_ he thought ferally, _or perhaps, much more likely, they simply do not value her as ardently as I do._ Either way Todd could feel his anger mounting, dissatisfaction coiling inside him like a spring until he had no choice but to let it out. He spun, grabbing the nearest object, a data-pad, only to then hurl it across the room – momentarily satisfied as it shattered against the wall into at least half a dozen pieces. He then resumed pacing, his thoughts frantic as he tried once more to understand Katherine’s logic. She must know the queen would never agree to her terms, that the only thing likely to result from the offer was her capture…

He froze; the inkling of an idea immerging from the back of his mind as he processed that last thought. What if getting captured _was_ her intention? If the goal was to rescue Larrin then Katherine would first need to gain access to the hive either by dart or one of the Atlantian’s gate-ships. He was willing to bet the latter wasn’t an option which was why she’d sent the message, enticing the queen with the revelation of her identity purely as a means to ensure she would be sent for. A clever plan all things considered, save for the undeniable fact it put her life in such grave danger.

“Damn!” Todd cursed again, louder this time, wondering how he was to both protect Katherine and still maintain the secrecy of his alliance with Atlantis. The answer was he couldn’t, not entirely. There was a concession to be made and Todd, although consistently adaptable as far as his stratagems were concerned, wasn’t particularly looking forwards to making it. If only it had been Sheppard’s life on the line or Lorne’s; even Teyla’s. As long as Katherine lived he had a hope of getting what he wanted. Without her, he would lose far more than just a personal investment; he would lose Atlantis. Her ability to influence others – Woolsey, Sheppard, even the runner – was an advantage he could ill afford to lose.

Katherine _must_ be saved and so it was with great reluctance Todd reached the conclusion that the only way to ensure both her safety _and_ maintain the confidentiality of their alliance would be to claim her himself which, unfortunately, also meant somehow remanding her to his custody before any of the queen’s bannermen. He sighed, mentally condemning the plan even as he thought it. It was a horrible idea: completely contingent upon his ability to convince the strong and able bodied Katherine _she_ was the one in need of rescue – and by him no less – which would likely not be very well received.

Regrettably, he had no other options as he silently and covertly left his quarters; striding down the hall while sending his mind scrying for Katherine’s location as soon as he detected her presence on board. Hopefully he could get to her before she reached the prison hold and, also hopefully, she would be willing to listen. If not then he’d have to take her by force and, if necessary, that is what he would do. She may not be especially pleased about it nor with him but she would be alive and, for the moment, that was much more important.

Her happiness mattered less than her life.

~xXx~

As planned, Kate was waiting in the center of the city when the dart came: fully armed and ready to go as the ship’s beam passed over her. She awoke in the hive’s reservoir, dispatching the handlers and the squad of drones sent to subdue her through a combination of skill and the ever faithful element of surprise. Then, once she was sure no one else was coming, she took off; darting quickly though the empty passageways on her way to the interrogation rooms. She was almost there when, suddenly, a figure appeared just ahead of her; emerging from the shadows like a ghost near the end of the hallway.

Her heart pounding, Kate froze while the wraith turned slowly towards her, his eyes glowing blue in the semi darkness; head titled just enough as to suggest he wasn’t there to hurt her. 

“Hello Katherine,” whispered the by now familiar voice of her brother’s least favorite ally, catching her completely off guard not only by the fact he was here but that he’d managed to find her when she’d specifically gone so far out of her way to avoid getting caught.

“What are you _doing_ here!?” she demanded, quickly joining him at the end of the hallway, her expression betraying how ridiculously un-thrilled she was to see him.

The wraith seemed rather surprised. “You’re not happy to see me?” he queried feeling his heart sink.

Kate glared at him, “Are you insane? No, I’m not happy to see you! Do you have any idea how this looks!?! Why would – oh, never mind. Just answer the question.”

Disappointed, Todd released an audible huff before answering, “I had business with the hive’s queen.”

Kate frowned. “What kind of business?” she asked warily.

“Nothing to do with the Travelers, I assure you,” he explained tolerantly, much more willing to suffer her suspicion then Larrin’s.  “In fact, I had planned on taking my leave as my audience was over but, alas; unforeseen circumstances prevented me from departing. I swear I did not know of the attack or that the Travelers were the intended target until after we’d arrived.”

Katherine snorted. “Well that’s convenient,” she said waspishly scowling deeply as she glanced upwards, trying to decide whether or not he deserved her giving him a hard time. His reason for being here was sketchy at best and downright incriminating at worst which led her to believe the truth was probably somewhere in the middle. “Why’re you _really_ here?” she probed.

Todd’s mouth twitched, “On the hive or here in front of you because I believe I’ve already explained –”

“Well then, explain again because you’ve _got_ to see how bad this looks!”

The wraith sighed, rolling his eyes at her mistrust even if he understood her reasons for having it. Admittedly the situation did not look good, “I swear to you Katherine, I’m not here as some part of a nefarious plot. My presence is completely coincidental and, whether you choose to believe it or not, does not change the fact you are now in much more danger then I.”

She raised an eyebrow, “Oh yeah? And why’s that?”

“I think you know,” he intoned harshly, sub-vocals rumbling. “Your inane plan to rescue the Traveler is perhaps stupidity at its finest and not something I would have expected from you. Regardless, I’ve no intention of allowing you to go through with it.”

Kate stared at him incredulously. “Ah, excuse me? You won’t _allow_ me? The hell makes you think any of this is your call!?”

“The fact you are unlikely to succeed but very likely to end up either killed or captured. Neither of which is an outcome I’m willing to permit.”

“So don’t!” she exclaimed fiercely, annoyed he thought he had a right to get involved at all. She’d been doing just fine without him but, if he insisted on getting in her way, “If you don’t want me dead or locked up someplace tell me which way to go.”

His head shook, “I can’t.”

“Why not!?” she demanded.

By this point, Todd looked decidedly more uncomfortable and decidedly less apologetic. As it stood, he sighed before continuing, “Thus far I’ve largely been able to keep my dealings with Atlantis a secret from my fellow wraith who, although they know an alliance exists, have no idea to who it pertains. I cannot risk exposing myself when I am not yet sure I can trust – ”

“Then why the hell did you stop me!?!” Kate growled, throwing her hands up in frustrated fury. “Why not just stay out of – ”

“Because in doing so I will be able to take credit for your capture.”

The woman blinked; her mouth literally falling open as she was stunned into stupefied silence. She recovered quickly, fully processing what he’d said in no more than a handful of moments. As predicted, she did not take the revelation well, “My capture!?! My – you _bastard_! You played me, this whole time. I should shoot – ”

“Katherine please, I did not ‘play’ you,” insisted Todd calmly, doing everything in his power not to buckle under the sudden onset of her rather formidable anger. She was much more upset then he’d thought she’d be and, as always, her fury was a magnificent sight to behold. “I simply had no intention of allowing you to complete your task from the beginning.”

Kate screamed, “Garrhhh! I don’t have _time_ for this!” Todd had a lot of nerve, not only because he thought he had a right to even stop her but, much more specifically, because he was literally sticking his nose into something that had absolutely _nothing_ to do with him.

“Get out of my way,” she commanded.

He shook his head, flexing his fingers as he stepped to the left; purposefully blocking her from being able to continue down the hall. “You know I can’t. I am doing this doing this for your own – ”

“ – If you say _‘good’_ I will fucking stun your ass, hold you down and then pull out every single one of your teeth!” Kate swore viciously daring him to continue arguing with her as she tried, once more in vain, to get around him. “Fuck!” she cried ineloquently when he successfully, and deliberately, put himself in her way a second time.  “Todd! I swear to _God_ , this isn’t a game. Either you move or I’ll go right fucking through you! I will, I’ll shoot you until your regenerative ability craps out and you can’t get back up!!”

Her threats, while certainly imaginative, did nothing to dissuade him. “You think you could take me?” he asked condescendingly, “I admit, your talents are impressive but in a real fight – ”

“ – In a _real_ fight I’d kick you in the balls before shooting you in the head! Last time I checked, you guys still can’t regenerate brain matter now, get the fuck out of my way!”

“Katherine please, listen to me,” he begged, lifting his hands towards her shoulders only to be violently shrugged off the moment he touched her. He looked torn, defeated, as he slowly lowered his arms back to his sides. “If you’re captured I won’t be able to assist you, not without revealing myself and our alliance. I cannot do this, there are too many lives which depend on me to – ”

“So don’t,” Kate bit out through clenching teeth, reluctant to just shoot him despite however much she might threaten to do so. God, he was stubborn. It’d been a while since the two of them had been on opposite sides and, admittedly, she’d gotten kinda used to always being on the same page with him. That was her first mistake, she couldn’t afford another one.

“Look I get it, you feel obligated to help me just because we’re both in the same place but the truth is, that’s not how things work. Your first priority’s the wraith just like mine’s Atlantis and when those two priorities don’t line up the two of us end up on opposite sides. It sucks but that’s the way it is and I’m not mad at you for it, I don’t blame you. It’s a shitty situation all around but right now, both of our hands are tied and we’ve each got our orders. If you keep me here you’ll be undoing everything we’ve built because after this, I’ll never be able to trust you again. You’ve got to let me go.”

Stunned, Todd felt his conviction waver. “So…if you’re captured…you truly expect me to do nothing?”

“Yes,” said Kate soberly, her voice barely audible above the frantic beating of her own heart. She had to tell him, had to make him understand – she wasn’t John. “The entire time I’ve known you I’ve _never_ asked you to compromise the safety of your people in order to help me maintain the safety of mine. It’s only fair you do the same for me. Let me go, please. I don’t…I don’t wanna lose you over this…”

“Nor I you,” he muttered softly realizing that she was right, it was wrong of him to ask for this; to want to keep her at the expense of everything else, including her own integrity. It was therefore with great reluctance Todd forced himself to retreat, stepping aside so that she could move past him.

But she didn’t, not right away; confusing him for a moment by stepping closer and then laying her palm to the flat of his cheek. His breath hitched, “Katherine?” but she didn’t answer, instead pulling him down until he felt her lips pressed gently against his opposite cheek; just below the sensory pit.

His pulse quickened, “Thank you,” he heard her whisper, her breath hot against the inherent coolness of his skin, before pulling away and then disappearing down the hall leaving the wraith both bereft and extremely bothered –  the skin underneath his right eye tingling gently. Todd growled, agitated, and began slowly making his way back towards the bridge; clenching his fists until they bled.

~xXx~

Having exhausted her resources trying to escape, Larrin sat lounging in her cell when she heard footsteps and, expecting the return of Todd or maybe one of the other wraith, scrambled to her feet. When they arrived, she was surprised to see not a wraith but the armored woman from Lorne’s team.

“Where the hell did you come from?” she demanded.

“Dart,” Kate replied, immediately crossing the room to let Larrin out of her cell. “I sent the queen a message, offered a trade: you for me. Got me on the hive. Now let’s go.”

The Traveler didn’t move. “And she agreed?”

Kate nodded, “Yeah, obviously. Now let’s – ”

“Why?”

Oh for the love of…this was ridiculous. “ _Seriously_?” she asked, scowling epically. “I show up to save your ass and instead of running with it you’re second guessing how I got up here!?! Have none of you people ever heard the phrase _‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth’_!?!”  

Larrin glared at her. “The wraith don’t negotiate so if you offered a trade and they agreed there must be something else going – ”

“Hi, I’m Kate Sheppard, John’s sister, and I swear to God, if you don’t start moving here in the next seven seconds I’m cutting my losses and leaving your ungrateful little ass here!!”

Larrin blinked. “You’re Sheppard’s sister?”

Her rescuer let out an exasperated groan, “Oh, for the love of – yes! I’m John’s sister, nice to meet you. Now let’s _go_!”

The Traveler went, not because she was entirely convinced mind you – Sheppard had certainly never mentioned a sister, not even in passing – but because sister or not anything was better than staying here.

“So, how come Sheppard’s never mentioned you bef –”

Not really in the mood to play twenty questions, Kate hissed at her to be quiet. “Shhh, this way,” she instructed, turning left once they’d reached the end of the corridor. They were now in a maintenance tunnel which, if all went well, would take them all the way to the dart bay. “Let’s go.”

Mistrustfully, her companion followed wondering as she did how the woman had known this passageway was even here. “Where – ”

Kate rounded on her. “Look, I know you don’t know me and have no reason to trust me but believe it or not I’m here to rescue you. So, I’d appreciate just a little more cooperation unless you want the entire hive to know where we are because _you’re_ so busy making noise by asking me stupid questions!”

Begrudgingly Larrin realized the woman was right, giving her a nod even if she was still glaring while she did it. The Atlantian didn’t seem to care as she turned on her heel and began jogging down the narrow passage leaving Larrin no choice but to keep pace behind her. They’d gone maybe a hundred or so yards when Kate suddenly veered right through a doorway which spat them out in a hallway she recognized as being somewhere near the bridge.

Now she was impressed. “How do you know where you’re going?” she asked curiously.

“Todd,” the other woman explained. “A couple weeks ago we got trapped on his hive for an extended period of time. He gave me a tour, I could probably draw you a map.”

Larrin scowled. “He’s here you know, the bast– _fuck_!” Ahead of them was a squad of drones.

“Go back,” Kate ordered turning around only to find a second squad of drones already blocking their exit. They were caught, damn. “Don’t fight,” she whispered urgently, glancing at Larrin, “Whatever you do. We can’t escape if we’re dead.”

Resigning herself to their situation Larrin agreed, nodding bitterly as Kate was once again relieved of all her weapons – and her armor – before the pair of them were taken to see the queen.

She was waiting for them when they arrived, perched on the edge of her throne like a kid at Christmas wearing an expression of eager excitement. “Leave us,” she dismissed the drones as well as the officers who had been escorting them, leaving her alone with her prisoners, her sire and the hive’s master at arms.

“Kneel,” she commanded gleefully.

Immediately Larrin compiled; her mind still too weak from its earlier assault to put up any resistance. John’s sister, on the other hand, shook her head and muttered a defiant, “No.”

Rising to her feet, Ash-ka kept her anger concealed as she tried again; this time adding more emphasis. “Kneel,” she directed, “Kneel and I will spare you your life.”

Kate smiled. “You’re going to spare me my life anyway, I’m Sheppard’s sister remember? I’m worth a hell of a lot more to you alive than dead and you know it.”

Ash-ka growled, annoyed because she knew the human was right. But still, she could not allow herself to be defeated by a single human female. Even one as valuable as Katherine of Atlantis.

“You will bow to me. I _will_ have your compliance.”

“You can try,” Kate spat willfully, gritting her teeth as she struggled to resist the mind numbing pressure of the queen’s mind inside her own. It hurt. Fuck, it hurt but she wasn’t about to just let her win. The project had made her stronger for a reason, upgrading her mental defenses in order to make her and the others extra-resistant to any form of mind control or behavioral conditioning. It’s how she knew every time Todd got into her head.

 _‘I’m stronger than you think, bitch!’_ she thought clearly. 

Surprised, the queen felt her eyes widen as the human’s thought projected loudly and clearly across the threshold of her own mental barriers. She snarled, recovering quickly, impressed despite herself by the woman’s power. She began to pace, circling her victim and with each pass expending more and more pressure against her now crumbling walls though which the thinnest cracks had begun to appear, spreading outwards.  

“You are strong…Kath-erine Shep-paard,” Ash-ka purred cruelly, her countenance reminding Kate of a lion or some kind of other big cat stalking its prey. “Your mind…it is far stronger than any human I’ve ever encountered. Stronger even than some of my bannermen.”

“I’ll take that…as a…compliment,” Kate replied with some difficulty, clenching her fists so hard she can feel her nails biting into her skin.

“You should,” the queen continued, now on her third pass, “Your will is almost as strong as my own; a queen amongst humans.”

Her victim shuddered, shaking from the effort of holding her off; of remaining upright. She could feel her knees weakening, threatening to give out. But she wouldn’t let them, couldn’t let them. It’d be a cold day in hell before she gave anyone that much control over her.  “Still…not sure…I like the sound of that…” she struggled breathlessly.

The young queen went still. “Still?” she asks, cocking her head in an expression of curiosity. “Is this not the first time you have been called a queen?”

Shaking her head, Kate thought a very clear _‘No.’_

Amused, Ash-ka turns to her sire and arms master to see what they think of this. The human woman might be able to project her thoughts but she lacks the control to direct where they go. All three wraith have been privy to everything she’s said and even some of her other officers, dutifully waiting for her summons as they go about their business. Sheppard’s sister lacks finesse.

“Is that so?”

Nodding shakily, Kate bites her lip, struggling to remain standing. She takes a deep breath, heaving with the effort of not bowing as the queen closes in on her until she’s right in front of her, touching her face in the mockery of a caress. Atlantis’ super solider can hear her in her mind, telling her that to be called a queen is the greatest of compliments before she again repeats her order, commanding her for the fifth time to kneel and obey.

With a strangled cry, Kate’s knees finally give out and she falls – catching herself just in time so that only one hits the ground. Above her the queen looms over her, frowning and growing more frustrated. Larrin, on the other hand, although she keeps her head bowed, is staring at her in unmitigated awe, finally accepting her connection to John if for no other reason than only a Sheppard could possibly be this stubborn.

Meanwhile, Ash-ka’s sire and master at arms pace restlessly back and forth; wanting to intervene but knowing they cannot. Kate grunts, doubling over as wave after wave of pain racks her body until she’s finally able to push past it, looking up into the queen’s eyes as she rebelliously pushes herself back onto her feet –  refusing to back down despite the fact her head feels like it’s about ready to explode.

“Fuck you,” she whispers, the words costing her more then they’re worth as she feels the strain just speaking them has on her body. She really should just give in, save her strength in order to escape. She can’t though, not yet; not ever. Seven years of being a puppet, of letting the project order her around, pulling on her invisible strings – not again, she swore vehemently, not ever again.

Kate was done being controlled. “I win.”

Lunging forwards, Ash-ha growled; striking the human across the face before grabbing her by the arm, raising her feeding hand above her victim’s head; ready to strike at the least bit of provocation. “You cannot win Kath-er-ine Sheppaaarrd. Strong you may be but you are still no match for a true – ”

“ _ENOUGH_!” cried an angry voice, startling her as it echoed throughout the chamber. The queen froze; her eyes wide as they studied the intensely angry Eldest striding towards her, his expression murderous.

“Release her,” he commanded, nodding once in the direction of her human prisoner. Ash-ka hesitated confusedly, baffled by his behavior.

“I-I do not understand. Why have you –”

A vociferated growl cut her off making her shrink back in terror.  “That was not a request!” Todd roared, his eyes narrowing in further evidence of his fury before he was obeyed: the young queen retreating into the arms of her sire whilst Katherine – now free – fell to the floor and began to gasp, her body shaking. It took every ounce of self-control he possessed not to go to her, gathering her into his arms, knowing that to do so would only invite more questions. It was bad enough he’d failed to remain objective, responding to her torment as though she were a real queen or perhaps more accurately, already his lover; the latter making it much more difficult to do nothing then he’d previously thought.

“Explain,” the hive master ordered soothing his frightened child as best he could, momentarily forgetting that she was queen.

The Eldest sighed. “I’m sure by now you’ve heard the rumors; you know there is an alliance between the humans of Atlantis and a specific faction of wraith.”

Ash-ka felt her eyes widen. “It’s you,” she exclaimed, “ _You_ are the one who has-has committed _treason_. How dare – ”

She was shushed suddenly, her sire terrified as he put her behind him and then turned to face Valloran. “Forgive her, my Lord Commander, please. She does not know – ”

Todd cut him off. “Your daughter is not the first to accuse me of treason nor is it likely she’ll be the last. Particularly as I’ve no desire to give up an advantage simply because it might seem…unorthodox to some of my more conservative peers. Admittedly, the humans of Atlantis are not the _best_ allies. They are annoying, tiresome and extremely infuriating but they are also useful.

“This one more than most,” he voiced waving a hand in Katherine’s direction, hoping she would be able to tell his indifference was purely for the benefit of his fellow wraith. And Larrin – the last thing he needed were rumors of his attachment to Sheppard’s sister to proliferate among the humans clans. No good could possibly come of it.

“I cannot allow her to come to harm.”

“Very well,” the queen replied stepping towards him tentatively, her confidence severely depleted as a result of his anger and sequential action. Her motem had warned her not to cross him and somehow, inadvertently, she’d managed to do just that. The Eldest was not an enemy she wished to make, especially now. Perhaps letting the humans go would be enough to appease him, enough to make him leave and hopefully not come back until she was once again ready to face him.

“You may go, both of you, and you may take _that one_ with you,” she said, nodding towards the still kneeling Traveler. “I will withdraw my hive and meet you at the agreed upon location three weeks from today. Until then, fare thee well Eldest, it has been an…interesting visit.”

“So it has,” her guest agreed, bowing his head as was custom before gathering both humans, one in each hand and dragging them to the transport bay. “Sit,” he instructed Larrin as soon as the three of them were safely aboard his shuttle, thrusting her rather roughly into the nearest chair.  He was gentler with Katherine, courteously helping her to find a seat before taking up the controls and separating them from the hive.

Almost immediately he established orbit, explaining peevishly when asked by an equally irritated Larrin that expecting him to land on a hostile planet full of humans more likely to kill him then capture him was stupid and ridiculously asinine. With reluctance the Traveler admitted he had a point.

“Well fine,” she grumbled, glaring at him hatefully from her seat before suddenly, the doors in front of her began to close. “Hey!” she exclaimed loudly, attempting to stop them before she was completely cut off from the forward section. “You can’t just – ”

With a satisfying hiss the bulkhead doors sealed shut, drowning out whatever else she’d been about to say.

“Well, that wasn’t very nice,” said Kate snidely glancing sideways glance at her perturbed companion.

He snorted. “You know perfectly well I am not a ‘nice’ person,” he replied slowly, growling as he continued to punch commands into the ship’s navigation system. “My courtesy extends only to those who have earned it.”

“Like me?” Kate guessed rhetorically, not really expecting an answer.

He gave her one anyway. “Yes, like you,” Todd replied before turning his chair in order to face her. She looked tired, her eyes strained and her shoulders tense; her body still suffering the aftershocks of the queen’s assault. It was obvious she was still in pain and that pain, no matter how unintentional, was still at least partially his fault. He shouldn’t have hesitated; he should have put a stop to it at the first sign of her duress. But no, instead he’d waited, trying his best to remain objective when in reality he knew deep down his feelings for her made such a thing nearly impossible. He cared too much while she, in turn, seemed to be less affected.

“Katherine?” he questioned timidly, suddenly uncomfortable. “Do you know why I stopped her? Why I intervened even after explicitly stating I would not be able to?”

Surprised, Kate immediately opened her mouth to say yes but then thought better of it. The truth was she _didn’t_ know, not really, and in reality it was a pain in the ass not knowing where they stood. “I…I know you care,” she said tentatively, looking anywhere but at the wraith staring imploringly at her as if she had all the answers. “But I _also_ know you wanna sleep with me; like a conquest or something, because lately that’s all you ever seem to talk about. I mean, I thought we were friends but the way you keep bugging me about it, finding a way to mention it in almost every conversation – like you think if you bring it up enough times I’ll eventually say yes just to shut you up – I just don’t know any more. So no, I _don’t_ know why you stopped her because I literally have no idea where we stand but I am curious so, how ‘bout _you_ explain it to me.”

Appalled, Todd could do little more than blink at her in humiliated shock. “Is that what you think?” he asked looking visibly stricken – unable to fathom how she could have drawn such an erroneous conclusion. Did she really think his only desire for her was carnal pleasure, that his feelings for her amounted to little more than baseless lust? How could she when _she_ was the one who had imposed such limited restrictions.

“Do you not recall our conversation? The discussion we had? I distinctly remember you expressing your current desire lies _not_ in cultivating a more meaningful relationship but rather simply a companion capable of ‘getting the job done’. Why then are you surprised? Surely it is not human custom to offer more than is being solicited? I have told you, male wraith do not go where we aren’t wanted.”

“But I _do_ want you!” Kate exclaimed, exasperated and only realizing what she’d just said half a second later when Todd’s face went suddenly slack, yellow eyes almost impossibly wide. She groaned. Yeah, okay, he was right; she’d said that. But then she’d _also_ said not an hour later that she liked him more then she should and that if she wasn’t careful John might actually have a legitimate reason to shoot him. If Todd were human he’d have picked up on that but he wasn’t. Inadvertently she’d apparently done to him what he was more often guilty of doing to her. Fuck it – and now he was looking at her like Christmas had come early.

“Okay,” she began again, noticing the suddenly wary look on his face like he was expecting her to take back everything she just said. In a way she kinda was, but then she was also planning on explaining what she’d actually meant. “You’re right, I did say that but I additionally said I liked you more then I should which when paired up with that other thing means something completely different to human guys then it obviously meant to you. In a nutshell it’s direct but complicated translation is: I like you and I like what I’ve seen so far but your case isn’t made yet, so I’m gonna need you to step things up a notch and keep trying. That’s what I…that’s what I meant to say.”

Bewildered but also annoyed, not to mention greatly relieved, Todd let out an audible huff of exacerbation. “Then why not just _say_ that? Why are you humans never clear?”

Kate shrugged. “We just aren’t, it’s a gift.”

“More like a curse,” Todd grumbled, studying her as he relaxed into his seat. “So, does this mean you’re ready to accept my proposal?”

She shook her head, “Not entirely. I mean, I’m still not entirely sure either of us knows what the other wants – other than the obvious. I guess now is as good a time as any to ask where you think all this is gonna go?”

What a confusing question. “I am uncertain. Amongst wraith, the parameters for any given relationship are determined by the female and you have not yet given me any. I do not know how to react, going forwards. I think you are asking me to court you but I’m not sure – ”

“I am.”

He froze. Was she…had she just? “Katherine?”

The woman was nodding. “Yes Todd, I’m asking you to court me. I want you to make me like you. You. Not the Eldest or the Lord Commander or whatever other titles I’m sure you’re known by, just you. And, while you’re doing that, I in turn will court you because you deserve it – and because I know flirting with you’ll _really_ tick my brother off. Bonus points will be awarded if the two of us actually manage to give him a heart attack. I like orchids, the color red, diamonds and long walks on the beach – preferably at night. Think you can do that?”

“I…” Could he? Todd was not so sure. He’d never courted a human before and while, admittedly, he’d already made a decision to pursue her that had been when he believed copulation to be the only possible outcome. Affection was a different story and required a different manner of approach. From her description and based off context clues, Katherine was asking him to be her companion.

“To be clear, we are discussing the possible evolution of our existing relationship into one including mutual attraction, pleasurable camaraderie and a mutual desire for physical affection.  I assume you are aware things will go no further than that?”

Kate snorted. Well, that was one way to put it. “Do you mean I think we’ll fall in love with each other? No. One, if I remember correctly wraith don’t do that. And two, you especially aren’t real fond of the idea. Not to mention I’ve been in love, it sucked, and I’ve kinda made it my personal goal never to fall in love again; thus the reason I’m even considering doing this with you. There’s not a chance in hell so don’t worry, I know exactly where this is going. Friends with benefits. _Exclusive_ friends with benefits because quite frankly, I don’t share and I’ve kinda been given the impression you don’t either. Something about wraith being inherently territorial and possessive. Makes sense really but just so you know, Captain Phoenix is scared to death of you. Like literally; him and every other guys on base.”

 _Good_ , thought Todd perversely, grinning evilly at the mere suggestion he’d someone ruined Katherine’s chances of ever copulating with any the males inhabiting Atlantis. It thrilled him to no end knowing she must now look elsewhere for the company she sought and that by her own affirmation he was her only choice. She had chosen him and while intellectually he knew that that choice didn’t carry nearly the same weight as it would were she wraith, it still excited him. She wanted him, was considering him and if truth be told, appeared to have already made up her mind. It was now a matter of _‘when’_ rather than an _‘if’_ and Todd was extensively pleased with that.

“Then yes, to answer your question, I believe I might be capable of that.” His grin widened becoming almost innately predatory the longer he looked at her; like a hungry shark about to devour his prey. Literally, Kate could see all but maybe two of his very pointy teeth.

Suddenly she wondered what those teeth might feel like on the back of her neck or, maybe, nipping along her jaw line. Her thoughts vanished however with the sound of a loud bang coming from the bulkhead door behind them.

Apparently Larrin wasn’t too fond of being left out. “Just let her out,” she told Todd, glancing back over her shoulder to where the Traveler was currently trying to escape. “She’ll probably try and strangle you as soon as she’s free but don’t worry, I’ll protect you. And if she gets too violent we can always tie her to a chair. I’m sure you’ve got something in this thing we could use for rope.”

Todd chuckled. “Indeed,” and released the doors, rotating his chair in order to watch Katherine intercept her before the enraged human could take more than a step in his direction.

“You’re out now, sit down and shut up,” Kate instructed pointing to another seat diagonally across from her own chair next to Todd’s.

Larrin glared at her, silently seething as she struggled to form a coherent response. When eventually words failed her, she did as she was told; moodily dropping into the seat indicated. Within minutes the shuttle had descended into tense and awkward silence until Kate broke it by turning to Todd.

“So, what’s your favorite color?” she asked causally.

He shrugged. “It varies. At the moment I would have to say it is a particular shade of grey, the same color as your eyes to be exact. I find it immensely…mesmerizing.

Kate smiled. “Good answer.”

Larrin was floored.

* * *

 

**Translations and notes for this chapter:**

**1 karra tula – beloved daughter**

**2 karra – precious one; one who is beloved. A common endearment similar to the human variations of sweetheart or honey.**

**3 Valloran – Todd’s real name meaning to protect or, more specifically, the protector.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So, as I've told many of you either in the comments section or through various e-mails or messaging, I've never been completely happy with how this one ended. That said, I must've re-wrote the damn thing at least a couple dozen times until I finally got a version I version I was happy with. Thus, this chapter is officially being put to bed and as of today 7/19/2017 will receive no more editing unless it's for grammar or punctuation. I'm extremely sorry for the headache I'm sure this has caused and in order to make it up to you I'll be including some fan art in the next upload. 
> 
> Until then,  
> Cheers!


	11. Reckless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lorne's team is attacked off-world leading Mr. Woolsey to confront the startling truth about his feelings for a one particular Atlantis team member…

**Episode XI: Reckless**

Contrary to popular belief, Richard Woolsey wasn’t nearly as emotionally atrophied as people believed.  Granted, he wasn’t a particularly _warm_ man but that hardly meant he was incapable of feeling – just that he didn’t show it. You see, Richard Woolsey was an introvert. An _extreme_ introvert which, among other things, meant his habitual reticence was much more readily accepted as him being just plain antisocial then it was him being shy. As a result, Woolsey had walls – high ones – along with various other impenetrable defenses such as a moat, alligators, an _‘absolutely no swimming’_ sign and a draw bridge that remained upright and in the locked position a good ninety percent of the time. It was easier that way, he’d tell himself, insisting quiet stubbornly that if nobody could get in then nobody could hurt him. A sound strategy, simple and yet effortlessly effective; until he accepted the job in Atlantis and his position began to change. 

It happened slowly. So slowly that at first, he didn’t even realize it was happening. After two years of being director, Woolsey’d grown used to the majority of his contributions going largely unobserved while it seemed people like Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay got all the glory. And that was fine, really, because after everything was said and done, he wasn’t in it for the recognition. He was in it because it needed to get done and nobody else in their right mind wanted to do it. Being in charge sucked and while in memory the actions of both his predecessors had been forever enshrined and sanctified, the general opinion of _his_ job was that he pushed paper around – often times ineffectively – and gave everyone a hard time about filing reports. 

Which was true but hardly the whole sum of his commitments. It certainly made _his_ life easier yet in turn, it also helped spread the idea he was little more than Atlantis’ glorified secretary; dotting everyone’s I’s and crossing their Ts.

In fact, according to their allies and a good three fifths the people he worked with, Colonel Sheppard was the de-facto man in charge while Richard himself was more a figurehead lacking any real authority. An annoyance to be sure, it made things difficult most notably because so very few had any idea the scope of things over which he was responsible. That in addition to making sure everyone filed their reports on time (and the much more arduous task of actually running the city), he’d somehow become increasingly liable for everything else the other departments (as well as various senior staff members) had no desire to do. Things like pay status upgrades and interdepartmental communication, leave requests, vacation requests, scheduling issues, inventory discrepancies, disciplinary actions, food supply shortages, who was allergic to what and how much more training did so-and-so need to be considered current.

It wasn’t fair doing so much and yet being recognized for so little, to the point Woolsey was sure he’d eventually buckle if someone didn’t come along and help alleviate the stress. Fortunately for him, Major Sheppard arrived and, in the days following the ordeal that revealed her as John’s sister, marched into his office demanding he give her something to do.

“Such as?” he’d queried, blinking stupidly at her from behind a mountain of backdated reports.

“I don’t know – anything,” she replied, “There’s gotta be _something_ you need help with and, since you removed me from the regular chain of command, that makes _you_ my new SO 1. So, I need to know what you want me to do for my secondary duties.” 

Confused, and admittedly having not thought of this, or anything really, beyond the fact her brother could no longer order her around, Woolsey frowned.  “Perhaps…you could give me an example?” he said slowly hoping for direction.

“Well,” she asks, “What’s this?” grabbing a random file and then flipping it open. It was a trade proposal, an extremely bad one, more a list of demands than anything useful. “This is crap. Who wrote this? You’re not going to accept this are you?”

“I don’t particularly see how I have any choice,” he sighed. “The Genii have been extremely generous with us so far and since we depend on them – ”

“ – So? Half our economy depends on China but that doesn’t mean we let them set the terms or impose ridiculous sanctions for stupid stuff. I’ve seen better offers drawn up by first year college students.”

“Have you?” he bit out, bristling even though he happened to agree. It was one thing to think it yourself but another to have someone else point it out. And sounding so disgusted, “Well, if that’s all Major, I’ll contact you after I figure out – ”

She rolled her eyes, “Oh please, I’m not judging you. I’m a spy, remember? International intrigue’s kinda my thing and besides that, my background’s in International Business and Cooperate Law. Lemme help you, it’s obvious you need it given I don’t think I can actually _see_ the top of your desk.”

Caught off guard, Woolsey blinks. “You…you studied IB and Cooperate – where?”

She smiles. “Harvard. I’ve got a degree in both, Dad insisted. Said my future husband would consider it an asset but anyway; it’s in my file. Thought you read it?”

“I…not all of it,” he mutters. “With everything else I…I just haven’t had time.”

“Well then,” says Kate brightly, “I’ll just take this. And _this_ …” she adds grabbing another file, “…and see if I can’t come up with a couple counter proposals to at least keep us flying until we can iron out the details with David and PSI. I’ll radio if I have any questions.”

And then she was gone leaving poor Mr. Woolsey staring, literally dumbfounded, after her before practically diving over his desk in order to retrieve her previously abandoned personnel files. He then sat back and read the entire thing, all two hundred pages, taking special note of the sections marked _‘Additional Background Information’_ and _‘Education’_. It took an hour, maybe an hour and a half, but when he was done, he felt suddenly much better about having her then he had the whole week prior.

A novelty and one that continued to surprise him even two months later during which time Kate got her own office while the two of them, miraculously, ended up friends. Real ones. Like the kind everyone else had and continuously rubbed in his face. Not on purpose mind you, but it was extremely hard not to be jealous or resentful when those around you were happy and you weren’t. It was also hard to let anyone in having added a new layer of protection every time you were rejected.

As previously mentioned however, Kate was a spy and instead of trying to bully her way either under or over his impossibly high walls, she found a weak spot and tunneled her way through – officially popping out the other side on September first, Woolsey’s birthday, when he arrived in his office and found a single long-stemmed yellow rose and a card waiting for him atop his desk.

He froze, blinking at it like he was afraid it might bite him, before eventually calming down enough to go read the card.

It said:

_“Happy birthday Richard, and thank you for all that you do – both the acknowledged and the ignored. It’s not an easy job but you handle it with well, with dignity and grace. I can’t imagine what we’d do without you._

_Yours in **friendship** ,_

_Kate Sheppard.”_

The director gasped, his heart swelling, and then read it again; his eyes focusing on the words ‘ _Yours in friendship_ ’, the last of which had been traced repeatedly until it was bold, while his mind recalled a discussion they’d had less than a week ago.

 _“I hate him,” she’d complained, speaking of Todd in the days following the excursion on M47-X23. “He’s an arrogant, condescending asshole with a stick up his butt and an ego the size of Texas. I mean – and I thought_ Ba’al _was bad, but Todd. Oh, he’s worse because he thinks he knows everything. The nerve! And then he thinks he can just apologize by spouting off some random fact, like it’s the holy grail of wraith-related trivia. Next time he tries that shit, I’ll fucking_ shoot _him!”_

_“Now, now,” he replied easily amused, “Perhaps he thinks he’s being relevant even if you don’t. For example, one summer when I was ten, my grandmother insisted I learn how to speak Victorian Flower language saying it was a forgotten art and might come in handy someday.”_

_“Did it?” she asked skeptically._

_“Once,” he acknowledged, “During college. The girl I was seeing at the time broke up with me by sending me a bouquet of sunflowers in a very tacky vase. Roughly translated it means ‘check yourself, you arrogant ass’ because apparently trying to help her by pointing out the numerous and egregious flaws in her thesis was the wrong thing to do.”_

_Kate snickered. “Well, then maybe the next time he insults us we should consider sending Todd a whole fucking bushel of ‘em._ He _won’t know what they mean but we will and I don’t know about you, but passive aggressive revenge has_ always _been one of my personal favorites…”_

The memory faded, returning him to the present at which time Woolsey found himself fingering the petals of the accompanying flower with a sense of happiness and awe touched with the knowledge he now had someone who cared enough to leave him such a thoughtful gift. Her words especially came at a time when he’d desperately needed the reassurance that at least _someone_ recognized his efforts to keep the city running. And that it was her, that _she_ saw it and wanted him to know she was thankful, that was just icing on the cake.  

He appreciated it and wanted her to know so, after lunch, sent a request to Russian scientist Dr. Dimitri Ivanova, asking that he join him in his office at his earliest convenience. The man arrived sometime later looking extremely nervous, wringing his hands and hurriedly apologizing as soon as he walked through the door.

“Mr. Voolsey! I am sorry, did I…did I forget meeting!?”

He shook his head. “Ah, no Doctor, not this time. But I do need – ”

“Then did I forget report?” the botanist babbled, “I sorry Director Voolsey, it is ze computers. Everything is in Latin alphabet and I am not used to – sheet! I mean sorry. Much sorry, I vill have on desk first thing in morning – ”

“Thank you, doctor,” Woolsey stopped him, raising a hand, “But I didn’t call to talk about your delinquency in filing reports. I called you because Dr. Nakamura, the head of botany, said he recently mad you the city’s groundskeeper. Is that correct?”

The Russian nodded, “Ya.”

“Excellent. Do you know if we have any orchids?”

Now the poor man just looked confused. “You are vanting Dimitri to know for if we have certain flower?”

“Yes, orchids,” Woolsey repeated. “I was wondering if it might be possible to pot one and have it delivered as a gift?”

Dimitri squinted and then suddenly looked very sly, like a fox getting ready to enter the henhouse, “Gift for girl?” he asked insinuatingly, “Pretty girl?”

“I…well…it’s…it’s for a friend…” he stammered nervously, embarrassed by the presumption of romantic intent, “…and she is a girl but I wouldn’t say, although she is very attractive…I wouldn’t…”

Eyes twinkling, the botanist watched him struggle with an expression of almost sadistic glee. “Who is flower for Mr. Voolsey?” he asked benignly.

The director clenched his teeth. “If you must know, it’s for Major Sheppard. That’s – ”  

Dimitri nodded, “Ya, I know her. Colonel Sheppard’s sister, human veapon. Very dangerous, can keel vifth spoon. She speak Russian and sometime she come talk to me, ask for flowers to put in room. Recently she come ask for I to give her yellow rose, for friend.”

He paused, the look on his face abruptly shifting to reflect the glow of the proverbial lightbulb. “Oh, I see, flower for you!” Then he frowned, “Vhy? You are not girl, vhat for she get you flower Mr. Voolsey?”

His lips thinned – this conversation was not at all going how the way he hoped it would. Not a bit, “Traditionally, a yellow rose signifies gratitude and friendship and today’s my birthday – ”

Without warning, Dimitri the Russian botanist looked suddenly and inexplicably thrilled. His whole face lit up and he exclaimed, “You speak flowers!? I know Ledi2 Kate speak flowers but I not think anyone else. Orchids mean strength and beauty but also they mean love and fertility. Are you _sure_ you vant get her orchids?”

About ready to wish the floor would open up and swallow him, Woolsey nodded and explained softly, “They’re her favorite,” without making eye contact.

In the interim, Dimitri looked pensively thoughtful. “Vell, Atlantis not have any _real_ orchids but city does have something similar. Flower is same shape, a bit bigger, but still almost same. You vant for me to get you one so you can give to her?”

Having only understood about half that, Woolsey found himself nodding just to get Ivanova out of his office, deciding that next time (if there was a next time) he’d just get her a card, “Yes and thank you, you’ve been a wonderful help doctor – and don’t worry about your reports. From now on, I’ll just have Major Sheppard translate for you if you think that’d be easier. Now then, I won’t waste any more of your time.”

By dinner, the not-an-orchid had been delivered and, having successfully managed to avoid everyone else today, Richard was busy writing a report when Captain Vega appeared outside his door accompanied by an amused Kate.  

“Can I help you?” he asked, eyeing them both inquisitively.

Interpreting that as an invitation to come in and bother him (which she was _very_ good at) the shorter of the two women stepped forwards, planting herself obstructively in front of his desk. “Did you know Kate has an office?” she asked by way of greeting.  

He answered slowly, “I did, yes. Why? Is that a problem?”

“Dunno yet,” she retorted, “Why does Kate _need_ an office?”

“I…” He peered around her, looking curiously at the woman in question still hovering in the doorway, “Didn’t you tell her?” he wondered.

“I did,” she nods, holding up two fingers. “Twice. But apparently, she wants to hear it from you.”

“…I see…” he says although really, he doesn’t. Exactly what kind of answer was she looking for she Kate herself couldn’t provide?  

“So, why’s Kate got an office?” asks Vega again sounding impatient. “And since when did you start giving people weird fucking flowers?”

Woolsey blinked – how did she…was _that_ what this was all about? – while behind her, her companion sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. “This again, I already _told_ you captain, it’s an orchid. Or at least what passes for one this galaxy. And thanks, by the way. It’s lovely,” she says to Woolsey, “Dimitri says you talked to him?”

Extremely glad for the change in subject, the director nods vigorously. “I did yes and on that note – he said he’s been having a bit of trouble writing his reports since none of our computers are in Cyrillic. I told him that since you speak Russian, you’d be happy to translate – ”

“Sure, I can do that. No problem,” she agrees, crossing her arms while leaning casually against the doorframe. “And actually, while I’m here: I was wondering if you’d heard back yet from the Genii?”

“I have,” he told her matter-of-factly, waving her inwards before passing her a file. “That’s the newest offer and honestly, I think it’s probably the best we’re going to get. The munitions are a bit high but all things considered…”

“Yeah, I’m still worried about that though. C-four doesn’t exactly grow on trees. Maybe we should consider selling them the recipe so they can make their own? I mean, what is C-four really? RDX and a couple of binders. At this point I don’t think we’re helping them, more enabling them. It’s time to teach ‘em how to catch fish on their own.”

Vega was confused. “Huh!?” she wondered.

Woolsey ignored her. “Hmm. Now there’s an idea and I can more than definitely see the appeal. In the meantime, however, we’ll move forwards with what we have. Though please, feel free to bring this up at the conference. Chancellor Radim’s sent a personal request for you to attend. It seems you left rather an impression.”

“Yes, well, I tend to do that,” she said earnestly, “And I told you, ‘s not that hard. Fuckin’ Ladon Radim can’t be anymore stubborn than Todd and look at all the progress I’ve made with him.”

Alicia stared.

“Yes indeed,” the director was smiling, “You’ve made significant headway in that regard though not as much as I’d eventually like. Still, I will admit – and this is going back to the Genii –  I was rather impressed with the way you handled the Foreign Trades Minister.”

Her lips twitched, one corner curling upwards into a wry smirk. “Yeah and I’d be happy to do it again. Anytime, please. Man’s an absolute ass and fucking sexist to boot. I mean, he’s worse than _Strauss_! But anyway, back to the meeting. Since we’re going there, do you want me to deck myself out in armor like I did last time or should I wear a dress?”

Woolsey’s forehead creased. “Do you _own_ dress?” he asked seriously.

She shook her head. “No, but I’ve got dress blues. Do those count?”

“Considering the militant nature of the Genii, I’m sure that’d be fine,” he offered. “And as soon as I know, I’ll message you with the date and time – unless there’s anything else?”

“Nope, that’s it for me.” She turned to Vega, snickering at the look of extreme perplexity scrawled across her face; her eyes practically crossed as though the captain had somehow stumbled into an alternate reality.

“You alright there, ‘Licia?” Kate chortled, “You’re looking a bit stunned.”

“Stunned!?!” she echoed, “Oh, I’m not stunned, this is not stunned – I’m fuckin’ _floored_!! The hell did you become Atlantis’ deputy director!?!”

The major grinned looking in that moment more mischievous then Woolsey had ever seen her. “When I got an office,” she answered impishly, waving him goodbye while hauling the incredulous and still protesting Vega out the door.

Six weeks later, the levity of that exchange was all but forgotten as Richard watched in secrecy Kate confess tearfully to Todd her inability to have children and how wonderful it’d been to pretend, at least for a little while. The admission hurt (him more so than her as she’d long ago accepted it as truth). Todd though, looked absolutely furious – his eyes flashing dangerously before he buried the emotion in favor of comforting her.

Woolsey meanwhile, stood in silence behind a pane of one-way glass fighting his own rage and resisting the urge to go out there and soothe her himself. The desire startled him and it was so strong be barely managed to keep it under control. Instead, he let Todd do it; observing with surprise the way he held her as though she were precious, carding his feeding hand through her hair. A sight he’d not forget anytime soon, what concerned him the most wasn’t Todd’s reaction but his own.

Watching Kate Sheppard, a strong and freely capable woman look so agonizingly broken, pulled on his heartstrings in a way no one but Allie had ever done. It scared him, deeply, not only with it’s existence but with the understanding of what that existence meant. He was falling in love with her, slowly but surely. Not romantically, but with a parent’s love; a father’s. Something he hadn’t felt in a long time and previously, thought he’d never feel again. Things were changing much more quickly then he’d have liked and as time wore on, he became increasingly aware of just how much. Especially during the Christmas and particularly following a discussion he’d had with the eldest Sheppard.

“My sister trusts you,” confessed her brother between sips of bourbon in his office an hour before the lights went out. “The way she talks about you, it’s obvious how much she respects you and that you’re important – at this point, maybe even more so than John. You must know how he walked away from her and, even though I’m sure she’s convinced herself and everyone else she’s over it, I can assure you she’s not. Not really.

“Her whole life she’s been left. By our parents, me, John, and I can’t even tell you how many men. Just promise me one thing, Mr. Woolsey. Promise you won’t be one of them. Even steel can break under the right circumstances and make no mistake, my baby sister _is_ made of steel but she isn’t invincible. She likes to think she is, and act it, but she’s not. All I ask is that you promise you’ll be careful.”

“You have my word,” he avowed solemnly, by now recognizing just how ardently he wanted to protect her. Almost as much as John, “Kate’s told me, that is…I understand the colonel sometimes has trouble remembering, even though he says he raised her, she’s his sister not his child.”

It was a statement, a fact, but David answered it anyway. “When she was twelve, she went to live with John and his wife Nancy for about three years while they were stationed in England. And really, ever since she was born John’s always felt more responsible for her then he probably should. Even now, or maybe especially now.”

“What do you mean?”

He sighed, “Seven years ago, Kate was a very young twenty-one-year-old and now, well – now she’s older, experienced and I don’t think he’s quite accepted the person she’s become. And to be fair, in a lot of ways, I haven’t either. She’s dangerous and flawed and morality’s more than a little skewed, but she’s still my sister. She’ll always be my sister and she’ll always be John’s sister so just go easy on him, alright? I promise he’ll get his head outta his ass eventually.”

“One can only hope,” he muttered, determined to do right by both of them even if they made things difficult. And they did, yes; they most certainly did. Most predominantly as related to Kate’s ongoing assignment and her relationship with Todd (a relationship her brother was violently and vocally against in every way, shape and form).

It was a point of constant contention. “I just don’t understand how you think her working for him’s a good idea!?!” John hissed while pacing the length and breadth of Woolsey’s office like a caged animal, scowling the whole time. “I mean, he’s already fucking obsessed with her. And you know he wants to screw her, right!?!”

“I’m aware,” said Woolsey tiredly seeing no reason to try and deny what both of them already knew. By now there was no point, “I’m also aware that for a very long time, _you_ were romantically interested in Teyla.”

The colonel stiffened, growling as he clenched his fists. “Yeah, but that’s different, nothing happened! And then _she_ went and had a kid with someone else!”

“I know,” he agreed softly, regretting the need to bring up what was still a very sore subject, “And so might Kate. Just because someone wants something doesn’t mean they get it. Case in point: you and Teyla. It’s also worth noting that it usually takes to and Kate, last time I checked, which was this morning by the way, has no designs of any kind whatsoever on him. So, I’d say you have nothing to worry about.”

“For now, anyway,” muttered John, cursing angrily under his breath as he turned and walked away.

They ignored each other for days speaking only when necessary, until eventually Kate intervened and chewed her brother’s ear off. Woolsey felt sorry for him and in reality, didn’t blame him for being concerned. It was obvious to anyone with eyes how rapidly the tides were turning, Todd’s reaction to Sheppard’s threat during the latter’s unfortunate mind-reading episode being perhaps the most damning example of how much he cared.

A lot more than he should – the feeling of which, was apparently mutual. “I mean, I’ve slept with marks before,” Kate noted, trying her best to play off her evolving feelings as just way to play the game. Woolsey wasn’t fooled though, not by a long shot, and he told her so in the only way he knew how.

“It’s your decision,” he explained watching her as she sat still, as still as a statue, her shoulders tense while her breath seemed caught in her throat. “I won’t order you and I won’t forbid you. I don’t care what’s been done in the past. If you want him sleep with him, if you don’t don’t. I may not be happy with the idea but I know you like him and I know he likes you…”

Kate stared. “So…you won’t…you’d let me? If I decided…if I ever wanted…you wouldn’t stop me?”

He shook his head, forcing himself to answer her as a friend rather than a father. And _technically_ , she wasn’t his, “If it’s what you want,” he explained stiffly. “I may not like it, or him as the case may be, but it’s your choice. Whatever you decided, it’s up to you. And I won’t judge you for it.”

She’d kissed him. Bending down over his chair, she’d kissed him tenderly on top of his balding head, her hand on his shoulder, before quickly and quietly quitting the room. The subject was closed, for a while anyway, until about a month later when the woman herself brought it up – explaining to him, her brother, her brother’s team, Vega and Lorne how apparently Todd wanted more from her then just sex (which he’d already figured) and that knowing this, she’d given him permission to court her (his words). Understanding of course, that just because he tried, didn’t mean he’d succeed.

Predictably, the announcement caused a bit of an uproar, Lorne’s mouth fell open, though in hindsight at least Richard could say he’d been expecting this as inevitable and only a matter of time.

Colonel Sheppard, on the other hand, had not.

“You what!?!?!” he screeched from his seat across the table midway through Atlantis’ latest intelligence/senior staff meeting. “The hell is wrong with you!?!? What happened to not wanting to encourage him!?!?!”

His sister frowned. “I never said that, when did I say that?”

He pointed at Vega. “You told her – ”

“I did not!”

“You did too!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“No – ”

“Enough, both of you! Colonel! Major!” Woolsey snapped giving them each a look of warning before he continued. “Now, whether or not Major Sheppard did or did not previously say she didn’t want to encourage him isn’t up for debate. What _is_ however is whether or not Todd’s willing to move forwards with the gene therapy given what we suspect is the IOA’s plan.”

“You mean Storm’s plan,” spat Vega viciously. “Fucking manipulative, backstabbing, son of a – ”

“Yes, that too which is why, in an hour, the Colonel and his team along Dr. Keller will be rendezvousing with Todd and his hive. And Colonel,” he added, his expression dour, “While you’re there, you’ll refrain from discussing anything not mission related. Understood? Consider it an order – and you won’t tell Ronon or Rodney to say anything either.”

John frowned. “What about Teyla?” he asked, sounding petulant. “Can she – ”

“Teyla knows better,” the director countered, absently straightening his stack of papers, “And in any case, your sister’s relationship with Todd is no concern of yours _unless_ at some point it jeopardizes either her ability to do her duty _or_ the safety of this city. Are we clear?”

Scowling, and with a look of utter and complete contempt, the colonel leaned back in his chair and gave a single nod. “Crystal.”

“Good,” said Woolsey, his attention swinging back to an uncomfortable looking Lorne. “And you, major, I trust your team’s ready to go?”

“Whenever you are,” he replied nervously, tapping his foot to the silent rhythm of I-don’t-want-to-be-here.

Fortunately for him and the room’s tension, they were dismissed less than a minute later with Woolsey’s standard, “If you need me, I’ll be in my office…” where he stayed for the next four hours until sometime after dinner the gate activated unexpectedly; admitting a bloodied, weary and barely conscious Captain Vega half a second after Chuck lowered the shield.

She stumbled, tripping over her feet as she fell to the floor, panting as she gasped, “I need…we were…Lorne…C-Cadman…Laura! Querido Dios, por qué!?! Por qué3!?!?!”

In a flash, Banks and Chuck were both at her side followed by a worried Woolsey, the three of them reaching her just in time to stop her from completely collapsing. “Vega! Vega!” Chuck tried rousing her Amelia repeated her name and tried to shake her back into awareness. “Alicia! C’mon sweetie, wake up. Wake up!”

Held upright between her two friends, Vega’s head bobbed; a groan escaping her mouth as she struggled to open her eyes.  “They…m-my team…my…” her voice broke and for a second she felt she could barely breathe. Then, “…we were…we were attacked. Lorne and Cad…Lorne and Cadman went down. Kate…Kate told me to run, t-to dial the gate. She drew their fire an’ ran off, I dunno…dunno wish way. We were a mile from the gate when we…when they came out of fu-fucking nowhere. Please…you have’ta…you have’ta g-go back…please…”

She was unconscious before anyone could say anything and Chuck, having had the foresight to press the medical alert button, helped Banks lift her carefully onto the gurney that arrived moments later. “Someone needs to go with her,” said Amelia, tugging weakly on the director’s arm. She and Vega were close, “You know how much she hates…how much she hates hospitals.”

“I do,” he replied soothingly, giving her hand a squeeze while letting her be the one to go. Together he and Chuck returned to the control room, the former getting directly on the horn to summon both emergency stand-by teams to the gateroom.

They arrived ten minutes later at which point, with a growing sense of dread, Woolsey ordered them to go find their people and bring them home. In less than an hour both Lorne and Cadman had been located, brought back and then immediately medevac’d to Earth for surgery. Vega had woken only to begin screaming after which Marie had had to sedate her. A message had been sent to Colonel Sheppard asking for him and his team to return in accordance to emergency protocol (a message he hadn’t answered which, given who’s hive he was on, wasn’t all that surprising).

By the time four hours had rolled around and Captain Stevens had returned, Woolsey was on the verge of a mental breakdown. “Well?” he demanded, accosting the man not ten seconds after he’d stepped through the gate.

Looking exceptionally grim, Lafayette Stevens sighed once and then shook his head. “She’s gone sir, searched everywhere. If Ryan’s team don’t find somethin’ in the next two hours, she’ll be officially declared MIA.”

To everyone’s surprise, Richard Woolsey took a deep breath, clenched his fist, spun around and then hurled his tea cup into the nearest wall; shattering it into about forty pieces. “Find her,” he ordered in a voice so dangerously low it was practically a growl. “I don’t care how. Just find her. I’ll be in my office.”

And then he was gone.

~xXx~

According to the city’s database, PX4 – 287 was a lush green tropical paradise not unlike Earth’s own Amazon basin or maybe the forests of India. However, as various expedition members had discovered numerous times over the last six and a half, nearly seven years: Atlantis’ archives were, as pointed at most recently by Todd, woefully out of date to the tune of about ten thousand years. Thus, in reality, PX4 was a hot, dry, miserably arid dust bowl with absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever and nobody knew that better than Captain Ryan whose team was currently trekking across it not yet willing to toss in the towel.

Everyone except Sergeant Richard Simmons (yes, that really was his name), who was new and as such had no idea _why_ Ryan kept insisting they keep going for ‘just another mile’. He’d said that _four times_ already, how long were they supposed to keep looking for? “I don’t get it,” he complained irritably, kicking a rock absently along the dried up creek bed they were following. “It’s been six hours. Stevens went back, why can’t we?”

Ahead of him, Chief Sergeant Abrams was fresh outta patience, tired, sore and without any sympathy. “You wanna go back and tell Woolsey we ain’t got shit on his favorite girl, be my guest. He may not shoot you but I can guarantee you ain’t gonna like his reaction. Not to mention Colonel Sheppard’s.”

Simmons frowned. “I thought the colonel and his team left this morning?  And anyways, what’s he care about Woolsey’s girlfriend?”

On his left, Lance Corporal Lars couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You’re kiddin’, right?” he asked skeptically having thought it common knowledge by now the colonel and Kate were brother and sister. It’s why they called her Kate, distinguishing between Major Sheppard and Colonel Sheppard over the radio was just too damn confusing. “You mean to tell me you _don’t_ know who she is?”

Simmons scowled. “I know Woolsey’s got some kinda thing for her which is freakin’ weird, by the way. I mean, not only do I not see the attraction but he’s _way_ too fuckin’ old for her.”

Next to Abrams, Ryan snorted. “Yeah well, so’s Todd and we all know how well _that’s_ going.” He glanced backwards, “You seriously don’t know who she is?”

By now annoyed, Simmons was also curious. “Should I?”

The chief nodded, “Well yeah, unless you wanna end up shot or somethin’. Kate’s Sheppard’s little sister which means don’t you go gettin’ any ideas. Between him and Woolsey, that girl’s got better security then Fort Knox.”

“Yeah,” Lars punctuated. “Only one dumb enough to try anything’s Todd the damn wraith.”

Simmons’ eyes went round. Wraith? What wraith? “Wh – ” he began only to get drowned out by Abrams who’d started talking.

“I heard he’s makin’ progress, like she might actually be fuckin’ considerin’ it. Course, Sheppard’s pissed and what’s this Lorne was saying about a poem?”

“A ballad, not a poem. An ancient wraith fucking ballad, I didn’t know they _had_ ballads,” said Lars. “Anyway, he recited it for her while the two of them and that Larrin chick – the one Sheppard’s in love with – were waiting for the Traveler High Council to given ‘em clearance to land. All seven-hundred and sixty something lines because apparently, Kate’s into that sort of thing. Which is weird ‘cause, you know, she’s a super soldier – ”

“So?” said Ryan. “She’s still a woman. A dangerous woman but that don’t mean she doesn’t like getting serenaded with poetry – ”

“ – Ballad.”

“Whatever, it’s the same damn thing. A ballad’s a song with a narrative and most the one’s I’ve heard rhyme – that makes it a fucking poem Corporal. Shut up before I shoot you.”

Lars snickered. “Promises, promises, sir. You keep threatening to shoot me but ain’t done it yet. I’m startin’ to think you’re all talk. Like a teddy bear or a bulldog and anyway, back to Todd – if it were me trying to get in ‘ta Kate’s pants, not that I would ‘cause I don’t wanna die. Anyway, I’d like buy her a knife or something, or maybe offer to clean all her guns. See, that makes sense. Kate makes G.I. Jane look like fucking Barbie.”

By this point, Sergeant Simmons was so confused he was having trouble treading water. “So, lemme get this straight: this chick we’re looking for’s Sheppard’s sister, Todd’s a wraith and they’ve got a thing, her and Woolsey don’t, and the colonel’s _okay_ with all this!?!”

Ryan felt sorry for him, taking pity on the poor guy whose arrival just after Christmas was at least half the reason he had no clue what was going on. “Okay’s a bit of a stretch since last I heard he’s still not real thrilled with the idea. Also, Kate’s a spy, gotta remember that. So cozying up to him’s kinda her job even if he is a creepy old bastard. Let’s just say _I_ certainly wouldn’t wanna do him but if it gets us the right information then I suppose it’s all worth it – ”

“Shit! Hey, guys?” Abrams called from up ahead, his voice pitched high with worry. “Ya’ll are gonna wanna come see this.”

Quickening his steps, Ryan advanced swiftly; catching up to the chief at which time he felt his stomach drop all the way to his toes. “Holy shit,” he breathed eyes wide as he took in the sight of no less than ten, maybe eleven, bodies strewn across the bowel of an ancient and long since dried lake. “Spread out,” he ordered already on his way to the nearest corpse. He flipped it over, groaning in relief when he saw it wasn’t her.

Thank God.

“I don’t think she’s here,” Abrams said after ten minutes of fruitless searching, “’S her work though. Counted at least four, maybe five broken necks and Lars found at least like two of her knives – bitch’s got more knives then Edward fuckin’ Scissor hands.”

“Yeah…” his captain agreed, “Her and Dex love their pointy blades. At least _she_ doesn’t name ‘em. Anybody got anything!?!” he shouted.

“Here!” Lars barked, “I found one’s still breathin’!”

Immediately, all four of them had converged around the one dead guy who wasn’t dead; just mostly. He did, however, have a standard-issue marine combat knife sticking a good two inches outta his shoulder. “Can you stabilize him?” Ryan asked, checking for a pulse as he crouching down next to the corporal. He frowned, it was fast, abnormally fast; the dude was literally on death’s door. They had to hurry, “We’ll call for back-up, get a jumper then take him back to the city – ”

“ – An’ let the infirmary patch him up just enough so’s Woolsey can question him?” Lars finished, liking the idea only so much as it was the only one they had. “Yeah, I think I can. Just gotta stop the bleedin’. Simmons! Get over here, apply pressure. Here, yes here – push hard! He dies we lose our only fuckin’ lead and I ain’t going back to Atlantis just t’ tell Woolsey we ain’t got shit. That man scares me; it’s always the quiet ones. You know what he did to Richards…”

A few minutes later, having finally gotten the bleeding to stop, Ryan knelt back down and had Abrams help load the man onto his back in a fireman’s carry before ordering his men back to the gate.

~xXx~

Kate woke to the memory of running, her head swimming, arms and legs tied down and the awareness of being naked. She groaned, opening her eyes to a flood of dim, muted light and the inability to see anything more than six inches in front of her. It was dark wherever she was and cold, the chill making her flesh pebble and the hair along her arms and legs stand on end. She took a breath before very carefully letting it out, taking stock of the situation as she experimentally pulled on her bindings in order to test their strength. They held and Kate winced in pain as the abrasive leather chaffed against her already sore skin – blistered and bruising as a result of her capture.

So much for that. _‘Where am I?’_ she thought anxiously, trying her best to bite back the panic that was beginning to set in along with the fuzzy, disjointed feeling of being drugged. Well fuck. That certainly wasn’t good and though she could hazily remember her team being attacked and seeing Lorne and Laura go down, everything after that was just one big blur. Vaguely she could recall her immediate seizure but not in detail. It was more of an impression, like the memory of a dream. Trying to catch it was like trying to catch fog or smoke and that, probably more than anything else, worried her.

Not remembering when she’d been specifically conditioned not to forget was extremely disconcerting.

"You’re awake."

Instinctively she froze, her heart pounding – the blood in her veins running cold at the sound of that eerily familiar, not-quite-flat voice calling to her from the shadows. She knew its owner even before she saw him, his silhouette coming into view just beyond her field of vision on her left-hand side.

“Michael.”

He smiled, his eyes dancing with the triumph of her capture. It had taken weeks nay, months of planning and now she was finally, _finally_ within his grasp. Sheppard’s sister, Katherine of Atlantis – the perfect vessel by which to achieve his goal. “It’s good to see you again,” he whispered tauntingly, “You’ve no idea how eagerly I’ve been anticipating your arrival.”

Her eyes narrowed. Well, that certainly didn’t sound good. “Why am I here?” she asks quickly, pointedly; wasting absolutely no time on pointless arguments and meaningless banter which, in the end, accomplished nothing. Some people, like John, found it amusing. She didn’t, “And what the _hell_ do you want from me?”

“Your assistance,” he explained readily, cocking his head to one side as he allowed himself to fully study her for the first time since having her delivered. She’d been stripped bare by his minions (who had enjoyed the task while he had enjoyed watching), and in her current state reminded him of Teyla the one and only time he’d seen all of her before realizing what the Atlantians had done to him. In every way, Katherine was similar save for her height and skin tone. Still, the comparison between the two was enough to make his spine itch and his blood boil with salacious thoughts. She was, after all, completely at his mercy. Perhaps, when she had served her purpose, he could make her a substitute for the one he wanted but could not have.   

“I require your help,” he said quietly.

Kate glared at him. “With what?” she demanded.

“Something I believe you are uniquely qualified to provide,” he replied letting his eyes drop as he approached her; one hand reaching out to stroke her from sternum to stomach. “You’re going to give me a child,” he leered, splaying his hand across her belly.

The woman laughed. Oh, that was funny, really. Apparently, Michael hadn’t done his research, “The hell I am! I’m not having _your_ kid; I’m not having anybody’s kid. I’m – ”

“ _Enough!_ ” he silenced her, flexing his fingers against the tight skin just below her belly-button enough to cause her to gasp. “You seem to be laboring under the impression you’re being given a choice. Allow me to disillusion you, you are going to help me whether you wish to or not. Now, hold still,” he commanded, withdrawing his hand only to retrieve the injection he’d prepared earlier after which he took hold of her arm. “This might hurt a bit.”

He raised the needle and, eyes wide, Kate felt the first fissure of true fear race through her. She fought. Ignoring his order, she fought and screamed and thrashed – all to no avail. The needle pricked her arm and within seconds, she could no longer move.  The fight left her, she felt her whole body go slack and then, blissfully, everything went black.

Her eyes closed and Michael smiled.

Now, he could begin…

~xXx~

As a lawyer, there were often cases that stayed with you sometimes years after their final verdicts had been read and for Woolsey, this was especially true for the murder of Charles Bunting –  a rich man, beloved by his community, who’d been tortured to death inside his home by a man named Peter Cummings. At first believed to have been a home invasion gone wrong, the court had firmly believed the defendant guilty until it was later revealed, during cross examination, that three years prior Charles Bunting had been the primary suspect in the disappearance/kidnapping of Peter’s then five year old son Jason. 

That of course, didn’t change the fact Peter had killed him. He freely admitted it during his testimony, explaining how despite the fact Bunting had been previously cleared, the father still believed him to have knowledge and/or something to do with his son’s death. That’s why he broke into his house, to question him, but things escalated when the victim (who had been heavily intoxicated when he arrived), revealed to the stricken father how sorry he was to have accidently killed Jason while in the process of sodomizing him.

“He said he didn’t mean to and that he was sorry,” Cummings’ testified, his anger for the wrong Charles Bunting had committed against his child as raw then as it’d been the night he killed him. “Then I said I didn’t care and that I’d make him pay for every hurt he gave my poor boy. So I killed him. I beat him and burned him and then I bashed his head in. That man killed my son, my little boy. He raped him and then he killed him, Jason was five. Five! I did it and I’m not sorry. As far as I’m concerned, the bastard got what he deserved.”

And the jury agreed. Despite Woolsey’s argument that two wrongs don’t make a right, that he should’ve waited and called the police rather than take the law into his own hands, Peter Cummings’ was acquitted of murder one – though he was convicted and tried separately for justifiable manslaughter for which he was sentenced to just two years. That’s it. For taking a life, for torturing and murdering someone inside their own home, two years and not a day more. It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t just and in Woolsey’s mind Peter Cummings’ had broken the law and gotten away with it, dodging the debt he owed society because murder was murder no matter the reason and torturing someone in the name of revenge made you just as bad as they were.

Or at least, so Woolsey thought until he came face to face with a man who could potentially tell him where Kate was. It took less than a minute, probably about thirty seconds, for everything to change; for his perception to shift and for the shoe to be placed on the other foot. Like Charles Bunting, this man knew what had happened to someone he deeply cared for. Kate was his, _his_ God damn it, and right now the inconvenience of that truth didn’t bother him as much as it probably should.

She was just like Allison, the stepdaughter he’d love and considered his own until his ex-wife divorced him and took her away. Seven years she was his and then she wasn’t and now he had Kate. She was his second chance, his last chance, and Woolsey’d be damned if he lost another daughter so soon upon realizing he had one. Whatever unimaginative torture Peter Cummings had used on Charles Bunting was child’s play compared to what Richard would do to _this_ man if he didn’t answer his questions.

He survived the operating table only to immediately start going through withdrawals as soon as he was released; a quick test revealing him as a user of wraith enzyme which, to the surprise of all, turned out to be significantly different then the version they were all most familiar with. Like a name-brand product being compared to its generic version and apparently, Lieutenant Ford’s had been the knock-off.

“Well, I mean, we’ve suspected for a while now that the lieutenant wasn’t the first to, for lack of a better word; capitalize on the wraith enzyme and this just proves it,” Marie explained, glancing sideways at the unusually silent Atlantis director. It’d been ten minutes now since last he spoke and admittedly, she was starting to worry. “I…I’m not sure how you want me to treat this,” she begged, “I mean, I can give him a sedative that’ll temporarily block his opioid receptors but other than that – ”

“How much of the enzyme do we currently have?”

She paused, “Sir?”

Back straight and without blinking, Mr. Woolsey stared straight ahead and repeated his question, “How much of the wraith enzyme do we currently have in stock? Is it enough for a dose?”

“I…I don’t know,” Marie stammered, suddenly wary of where she thought this conversation might be going. “Maybe enough to fill a vile, we used most of it two years ago during Ronon’s remission because we didn’t want – w-why are you asking?” 

His eyes flashed, “When I was a lawyer, I had a case where the only witness was a cocaine drug addict who could only testify after being shot up. It was a high profile case and, because we needed a conviction, the judge agreed to provide the drugs confiscated from a resent seizure in exchange for getting him on the stand and I see no reason why that same method can’t be applied here.”

Marie was horrified. “I…no!” she exclaimed, refusing to believe the director of Atlantis was really advocating for such an underhanded, dirty, reprehensible action. “I can’t, we can’t! There has to be another way. That’s…that’s torture not to mention completely unethical – ”

“So, you’re refusing then?” asked Woolsey turning to look at her with an expression of extreme apathy that chilled her to her actual bone. He wasn’t playing; he seriously meant to do this.

“I…I can’t,” she said again, hoping her refusal would be enough to adequately dissuade him.

It wasn’t. “Then by all means Nurse Kim, you may consider yourself relieved of duty – ”

“But...you can’t do that! Mr. Woolsey, please! Think about what you’re asking – ”

“I have,” he replied sternly, quietly and with an exceptional amount of calm; the eyes behind his glasses glinting dangerously in a way that truly terrified her. “And, as the city’s director, it’s within my rights to remove anyone whom I feel isn’t suitably doing their job. Which at the moment is you, Nurse Kim. So, either you help me by doing what I asked or you leave. There’s the door, try not to let it hit you on the way out.”

She fled, indignantly stripping her gloves off and throwing them away as she marched through the door. In her wake, Woolsey called over another nurse and explained patiently what he wanted to do, turning back to the man in the bed as Nurse Brian busied himself with following his instructions. Then, with everything was in place, the director dismissed everyone in the near vicinity; taking vigil near the feet of their unconscious guest until such time as he began to waken.

It happened slowly, in stages, the bed’s occupant becoming progressively more and more aware each time his eyes fluttered open, until finally he opened them permanently, looked around, and began to panic. Apathetic, Richard watched in silence as he continuously thrashed, twisted and then ultimately realized he’d been secured. He gave up, panting and shivering as he fell back against his pillows, his body twitching as he looked around for the second time; instantly stilling the moment he saw Woolsey observing him from the foot of his bed.   

“Wh-who’re you?” he asked shakily.

Taking a step forwards, Woolsey replied, “It doesn’t matter. What does matter is how willing you are to answer my questions.”

Having begun to sweat, the man pulled absently on his restraints, yelling loudly when nothing happened before sequentially devolving into a stream of unintelligible jibber, “Please, you gotta lemme go. You don’t understand. I can’t say…I can’t stay here. Please! I gotta go back, I gotta…I gotta. Please, I have to…I need to leave. I can’t stay – ”

“Answer my questions and I’ll let you go,” Woolsey promised, catching the man’s attention by showing him a small vial of clear, pinkish-orange liquid. “Do you know what this is?” he queried, smiling cruelly when he saw the man’s pupils dilate in hungry recognition.  

“The enzyme…” he panted, salivating like Pavlov’s dog after hearing a bell. Suddenly he lunged, or tried to lung – twisting and straining against the leather cuffs binding his ankles and wrists to the frame of his bed. “Gaahh! Give it to me! Give it…I need it…I need! You have to give it to me, give it! I’ll tell you anything, anything you wanna know!”

“Excellent,” said Woolsey leaning forwards, his expression transforming into one of almost savage glee like a predator about to consume his prey. “Tell me everything you know about Major Kate Sheppard.”

Shuddering, the man swallowed thickly, opened his mouth and then began to explain.

~xXx~

The second time Kate woke, she was no longer strapped to a cold, metal table but lying on her side on an equally cold concrete floor. She groaned, the pain of her ordeal hitting her all at once as she struggled blindly into a sitting position; blinking her eyes against the sudden onslaught of harsh, almost too bright light while quickly taking stock of her surroundings. She was in a cell: a cold, damp cell most likely somewhere deep underground, and she wasn’t alone.

There was a wraith nearby, the awareness of which she felt dripping down her spine like a bizarre sixth sense only newly awakened. It felt weird and extremely unnatural not to mention just this side of creepy. To get rid of it, or try to anyway, she looked around feeling gratified when she espied her cell mate crouched  innocuously in the corner opposite her: one knee on the ground, his hair dirty, pale green skin unusually pallid and with not a stitch of clothing anywhere on him.

She looked down. Nope, apparently she wasn’t wearing any clothes either and when paired with Michael’s earlier comment about giving him children, it didn’t take a genius to figure out what the plan was.  

And she was pissed. “OH, **_HELL_** NO!!!!” she screeched, surging to her feet whereupon she immediately commenced rattling the bars. It wasn’t helpful, and it really didn’t do anything, but it made her feel better to make some noise. To raise hell, as John might say; finishing off the entire spectacle by yelling vehemently down the hallway that she’d eviscerate her captor if he didn’t come back and let her out _right now_. Unsurprisingly, nothing happened and with an audible snarl of frustrated anger, Kate forced herself to sit back down with her back against the wall.

“Balls,” she muttered hugging her knees in a wasted effort to ward off the chill. As noted, it was cold down here, almost biting, and being naked certainly didn’t help. In fact, if anyone asked, she’d say her nipples were hard enough to actually cut glass.

The thought made her snicker, amusing herself with her own wit.

In his corner, the wraith began to chuckle dryly. “Well,” he rasped, his multitoned voice unusually flat which was defiantly _not_ a good sign, “You are certainly the loudest female I’ve yet been given. Surely you weren’t excepting such idle threats to entice him to answer?”

Kate snorted. “Who says they’re idle? Trust me, I can and will kill him if he doesn’t cut the shit and let me out of here.”

He hissed, “Is that so? Well then, by all means, continue screaming. If nothing else your pageantry will keep me well entertained…”

She studied him. “So, what’s _your_ deal?” she asked eventually.

His lips curled. “Can’t you guess?” he inquired disdainfully, lifting his head so as to more clearly see her through the curtain of his long, matted and impossibly tangled hair. “Or is your intelligence so severely lacking you require and explanation?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Funnily enough, _that_ part’s fairly obvious – I was looking for details. But, I get it, you don’t wanna talk so let me just say this: If Michael thinks I’m gonna screw you just ‘cause he locked me in here and took away both our clothes, he’s got another thing comin’. I don’t play games and I sure as hell ain’t playing this one.”

He scoffed, laughing at her and her defiance. “You say that but, in the end, he’ll find a way to force your submission. Hunger, pain, it makes no difference. Eventually, you _will_ obey.”

“The hell I will!” she proclaimed viciously, snarling behind her teeth while a growl rumbled low inside her throat. Well, that was new, “Doesn’t matter what he does, he touches me or you touch me, I’ll geld you both with my bare hands and shove your balls down your throat!!!”

 _I’m sure,_ he thought irritably, annoyed by her attempt to invoke dread and make him fear her. _I know my task_ , he continued, _And if I do not complete it, I forfeit my life._ It wasn’t an option, death was a surrender and surrender was unacceptable. He would endure and survive, eventually outliving his usefulness at which time he’d be set free. It was his own fault he’d been captured anyway, his youth making him impulsive and unable to see the danger before it was too late. And anyway, what need did he have to fear her? Her threats were words, hollow words and even at sixty-seven he was still stronger, faster and more physically competent then this human female. What could she do to him besdes shout and verbally abuse him?

“Lots of things!” snapped Kate defensively; oblivious to the fact she’d answered a thought rather than a spoken question. “Try it, I dare you. I’m serious, you take so much as a step and I’ll…I’ll –” she trailed off, her voice fading, belatedly realizing what she had done with a startled gasp. He hadn’t said…but she’d heard…and his mouth hadn’t moved…

“What’d he do?” she whispered, her expression breaking, “God! What’d he _do_ to me!?!”

Across the room, the wraith had no pity for her, only anger. How dare she steal his thoughts, how dare she trespass across his mind so brazenly! He stood, snarling with rage as he took one step menacingly towards her, hearing her shriek of surprise before finding himself abruptly and completely incapacitated – on his knees while clutching his head in anguish.

It was an instinctual reaction, a mistake made by almost every young wraith at least once before learning to control their mental abilities. The difference, though, lay in the inherent strength of a child’s mind when compared to an adult. No adolescent wraith could mentally cripple an elder but this female… she was certainly not a child and _her_ eruption, when combined with her own fears and lack of control, was killing him. Snuffing out his life as surely as fire consumed air or darkness light. It was difficult to breathe and, gasping, he begged her to stop.

“Forgive me, please. I’m sorry! I d-didn’t mean…please. It hurts…please …”

Like watching a train wreck in slow motion, Kate couldn’t have stopped it even if she’d tried. He jumped up, ferociously coming towards her and for exactly two-point-three seconds she’d been mechanically afraid and that was enough. Her walls crumbled and then suddenly she could _feel_ her mind in his, the exact opposite of how she’d felt during her own mental invasion a week and a half ago.  

She had to force herself to become calm, breathing in and out rapidly but deeply in an attempt to meditate her emotions back under control. A difficult task considering she not only had no idea what she was doing, but that her only frame of reference came from being the victim of a similar perpetuated by Todd’s new thirty-two year old queen. A comparison would be like trying to put toothpaste back into its tube after squeezing it all out.  She managed though, eventually; successfully cramming all her own thoughts back into their separate boxes before opening her eyes to find her accidental target watching her with an expression of sorrow and pity.

“Oops,” she mumbled before offering him her remorse, “I didn’t mean…I had no idea that’d happen – ”

“Obviously,” he sneered, removing himself back to his corner where he couched back down and took to watching her apprehensively.

She was very curious he decided, not only for her startling new abilities but also in her appearance. Her height was average though she was a bit more muscular than he preferred. It was clear that wherever she came from, she was a warrior and perhaps objectively, that was the reason she’d been chosen. And, in addition to being very loud she was also by far the most imaginative when it came to invoking threats. Of course, he was used to it by now, most of the others having threatened him at some point – usually directly before or after he was finished raping them. Not of his own volition mind, rape was abhorrent and deserved punishment, but when his only choice was to breed or die there was nothing he could do.

“I heard that,” Kate whispered, speaking more to herself than to him, though she was sure he’d heard her anyway.

“Yes, good for you,” he grumbled crossly sounding more irritated then angry which, at this point, was probably a good thing.

She snickered, “Snarky much?”

He scowled, “Have you nothing better to do then waste your energy on idle and extremely pointless conversation?”

She shrugged, leaning her head back to rest against the wall. “You got a better idea?” He didn’t reply. She sighed, “Fine than, tell me what he did and I’ll leave you alone. Scouts honor.”

He considered, wondering briefly if he dared ask what a scout was before deciding to refrain, answering her honestly, “Natural-born hybrids are rare but evidently our captor’s discovered that if the motem already possesses a modicum of wraith genetic material, the chances of conception increase rather dramatically. The last one he tried this on was pregnant within a day.”

Oh. Well, isn’t that nice? she thought sourly, reflecting on how now she was not only a super-solider, but a super-solider with wraith DNA. How lovely, because apparently she’d really needed something else to make her less than human. Joy, rapture, hallelujah and bliss! Her life officially fucking sucked.

When Michael arrived fifty seven minutes later to check on their progress, he was immediately upset they hadn’t done anything yet.

“Need I remind you of your task and what will happen should you refuse to do it?” he cautioned his original captive before sliding his eyes back towards Kate, “And you – ”

“Oh, save it,” she barked waspishly, pushing herself lazily off the floor and into a standing position. “You know damn well you can’t do shit to me without royally pissing of Atlantis – ”

In his corner, unobserved by either of them, her cellmate looked up in sudden interest and a great deal of alarm. Michael, on the other hand, just sneered. “You think I’m afraid of Atlantis? I assure you, your precious city’s of no threat to me.”

She crossed her arms, “Oh yeah, well then what about Todd?”

He laughed, “You mean the Eldest? You honestly expect me to believe he cares at all for you beyond your ability to control your wretched brother? You are a pawn to him and nothing more, just as you are to me.”

Kate shrugged. “’S not what he says. According to him, I’m his equal – a queen among humans or something like that. He’s called me that half a dozen times already.  It’s sweet and you know he wants me, right? He’s made no secret of that fact and, I don’t know if you know this or not but much like you, he’s pretty persistent.  Used to getting what he wants and I’m curious, how’s he gonna react to finding out you arranged to let some other random wraith slither between my legs before he got the opportunity? Personally, I don’t imagine he’ll be pleased. I hear wraith are possessive but hey, it’s your funeral…”

Her confidence scared him making it difficult for the hybrid to fully dismiss her claims as nothing but hearsay. There were rumors, _several_ rumors, but given what he knew about the wraith in question, he’d paid them little heed.  Perhaps he should have or, perhaps she was lying in order to secure her expedient release. Either way, he’d already invested quite a bit in her and, interested or not, the Eldest’s influence only extended so far. As long as she was kept hidden until after she’d given birth, the other male – and Atlantis – was of no threat to him.

He smiled, “You present a compelling argument my Lady but, alas, I’ve already invested far too much in your acquisition and capture. You may leave when I’m done with you but not before. Until then – ”

With a snarl Kate lunged, grasping the bars with both hands as she spat at him through the steel gaps. “He’ll kill you, him and John. And me. Why don’t you come in here and fuck me yourself, I know you want to. I can hear you. I remind you of Teyla so much you’re getting hard just fucking thinking about it. So come on, I dare you!”

“Don’t!” he growled reaching through the bars to grab her roughly by the back of the neck, pulling her close and hissing dangerously, their bodies barely six inches apart and separated only by the metal bars. “Don’t tempt me. You’ve no idea how close you are. How easy it would be. How much I’d relish piercing you…”

“So why don’t you?” she jeered, hoping to bait him into doing something stupid, or maybe into actually agreeing. That could work, him coming in here; she’d kill him before he could take his pants off. “Why have someone else do it, why not do it yourself?”

“Because you are not Teyla, you will never be Teyla. And though you are like her in many ways, in the end there is no comparison. She is more than you will ever be and I’ll not taint my body with such a poor substitute.”

“Your loss,” Kate jeered venomously, her body still and her eyes black as he first released her and then slowly began to back away as though afraid she may yet reach out and strike him.

His attention turned to the wraith. “You have until sunrise, eleven hours,” he ordered. “Mate her or I will kill you, this is your last chance!”

He left, as quickly as he’d come, he retreated leaving them once again alone with only each other. “You understand now?” the male asked, “We’ve no choice, if I do not comply – ”

Kate’s eyes flashed. “I don’t care. Seriously, I’m not John; my heart doesn’t bleed for you just because we’re in the same boat. I already told you, I’m not playing this game. You touch me, you die – that’s how this work. If he wanted someone who’d feel sorry for you, he should’ve taken his precious Teyla. She’s a good person, I’m not. Now, shut up. I’m not interested in making polite conversation.”

He quieted, his thoughts troubled, now relatively certain – by either her hand or their captor’s – he was going to die. _Forgive me, Motem_ , he whispered, hoping that by some miracle she’d be able to hear him. _Forgive me for not coming back to you…_

For the next several hours nether one of them said a single word.

~xXx~

Despite having prepared himself for virtually anything, discovering who, exactly, was behind Kate’s kidnapping, not to mention _why_ , still hit him like a proverbial freight train going about two-hundred miles an hour. Of course, all things considered, it really _shouldn’t_ have. The city’s leadership had known for a while now the sorts of things Michael’d been up to (although admittedly, it’d never occurred to them he might try building an army the old-fashioned way), and given the ample amounts of evidence he’d left behind, claiming ignorance as to his methods was a bit like claiming the sky was green or that water wasn’t wet. In much the same way Colonel Sheppard liked to pretend all wraith were bad and he still hated Todd, so Woolsey had liked to imagine the hybrid preferred Petri-dishes and artificial wombs as substitutes for the real thing. But no more, his eyes were open, the last veil of doubt had been cast off and just the thought of his Kate being used as little more than Michael’s latest broodmare not only made him sick, it pissed him off.

In quick succession, everyone in Atlantis who _hadn’t_ been scared of him swiftly became so – especially after the director marched himself down to the gun range, loaded his own magazine and then opened fire. For a guy who looked like the grown-up version of the nerdy kid everyone always picked on – and whose idea of casual constituted a suit and tie – his aim was impressively terrifying. And, when after an hour of shooting things, Woolsey immerged only to start barking orders for practically the whole city to empty itself searching for leads on either Michael and/or Major Sheppard, not a single person was brave enough to so much as raise an eyebrow. Six hours later, by the time Vega was finally released from the infirmary, the only military Atlantis had left was herself, Sergeant Johnson and his security team, Amelia Banks and Chuck the gate technician.

“The hell did everybody go!?” she queried, entering the control room looking undeniably the worse for wear and with her left arm still in a sling. “And where’s Woolsey?”

“Mess-hall, getting more tea,” said Chuck taking a sip of his own long-since-cold concoction. Originally, it’d been coffee but after so many hours of being constantly reheated in Woolsey’s microwave, it was starting to turn into something else. Go figure, “And you missed it. Went down to the shooting range earlier and apparently his aim’s nearly as good as Ronon’s.”

Vega snorted. “Well yeah, that doesn’t surprise me considering Kate’s the one who taught him. Said that if he keeps having to go off-world, he’s gotta at last know how to defend himself. She taught him how to use a knife too.”

“Will wonders never cease?” Amelia muttered, lifting her feet to rest casually on Chuck’s lap. Both he and she, being the only two gate-techs in the entire city, were extremely close. “You know she’s missing, right?”

The captain nodded. “Yeah, I got that memo, thanks for asking. Nurse told me while I was still pretty heavily sedated.”

“Probably ‘cause they knew you’d hurt someone if they tried telling you while you were awake,” Banks snarked. “I don’t know if you know this, but you’ve got a bit of a temper there Latina Barbie.”

Faking offense, Vega held her hand over her heart and let out a dramatic gasp, “How dare you! If anything I’m a Latina _Bratz_ doll cuz-ah, Barbie’s too fucking basic. And I’m fabulous!”

Banks grinned while Chuck tried his level best not to laugh. At least _somebody_ was in a good mood, although that probably had more to do with the painkillers she was on but after almost two days of somber depression and the sensation of walking on egg-shells, it was nice to entertain a bit of levity. Of course, it didn’t last: Woolsey returned and with him the sobering reality that one of their own was still missing while her brother and his team had yet to respond to any of their hails.

“Captain Vega,” the director greeted, “I’m glad to see you’re out of the infirmary.”

“Thank you, sir,” she replied neatly, amending her stance to a more formal parade rest. Amelia, likewise, sat up straight after removing her feet from Chuck’s lap, “Any news, Sir? On Lorne, on Cadman?”

He shook his head. “Not yet, though I did receive an update while you were still in the infirmary. Both Captain Cadman and Major Lorne have been moved to Bethesda and I’m told their surgeries went well. It’s too soon to tell but at the moment, all signs point to them being back with us fairly soon.”

Relieved, Alicia felt as if at least that weight had been taken off her shoulders. “And Kate? We really supposed to believe nobody’s found anything? What about our allies, maybe one of them’ve heard or know something about whatever the hell Michael’s been up to. And don’t we have some dude locked up in the infirmary?”

“Not anymore,” Chuck mumbled. “He OD’ed himself about ten minutes after we finished questioning him. Marie’s not exactly happy with you for that, by the way,” he said to Woolsey, “Said something about you not letting her save him. Bit harsh, don’t you think? Not typically your style.”

“No,” Woolsey agrees, “It’s not but I…in this case I believe the end clearly justifies the means, more so then usual. Were he here, I’m certain Colonel Sheppard would’ve done the same.”

 _‘Not to mention Todd,’_ thought Vega because no conversation, spoken or not, about Kate being in danger was complete without at least mentioning her would-be boyfriend. Aloud she said, “Who was he, if you don’t mind me asking? The guy? Anyone we know?”

The director shook his head. “Unfortunately no. We do however, know he’s a mercenary – or was a mercenary as the case may be. He had a brand and we know Michael’s not the one who hired him so there’s at least a third party out there who we’ve no way of connecting – ”

The gate activated, drowning out his voice as it whooshed to life while Chuck scrambled to raise the shield and bleatingly call, “Unscheduled off-world activa – ”

“Yeah, yeah, we can see that Chuck,” Vega snapped, “Just tell us who the hell is it.”

He glanced at his console. “It’s the Genii.”

In unison, everyone in the room made the same face visibly proclaiming: what the hell did they want?

“Audio and Video coming through now, sir,” Chuck said.

“Open a channel,” Woolsey instructed before readying himself to face the regrettably familiar visage of Chancellor Ladon Radim. “Chancellor,” he greeted neutrally, hoping that whatever this was it would be over quickly, “How can we help you this evening?”

On screen, Ladon smiled smarmily, like a cat about to eat it’s cream. “Actually Director, it’s more how I can help you. I believe one of your people recently went missing, did they not? The rather delightful Miss Kate Sheppard?”

“Major,” Vega corrected vehemently, glaring hatefully at the Genii leader from behind Woolsey’s shoulder while the man himself struggled to find his voice.

“Yes of course,” Ladon nodded. “Such a pleasure to see you again, Captain Vega, though it seems you’ve run into a bit of trouble.”

The Latina snarled, “That’s because my team was attacked you fucking moron! And how do _you_ know about – ”

“That’s enough, captain,” Woolsey silenced her before responding in turn, “And she has a point, how _do_ you know Major Sheppard’s missing – unless you’ve got something to do with it?”

The Chancellor’s face looked exceptionally grim. “I’m insulted you have to ask but, as the case maybe, I learned of it just this past hour following a raid at the private residence of my Foreign Trade Minister. He, as you know, is no friend to the lovely Miss Kate and it would seem both he and his employer had plans to eliminate her by killing two birds with one stone. He’s called Michael; I trust you’ve heard of him?”

“We have,” Woolsey replied unable to hide his shock. “Your Foreign Trade Minister was working for Michael?”

The Genii nodded. “He was. And while that has nothing to do with the reason he was under surveillance, it’s still not a crime I can just ignore. He hired mercenaries to track her movements before paying them to capture her and arranging to have her delivered to Michael at a secondary location. It is my understanding she’s still there, though there appears to have been plans to move her sometime in the near future. I have the coordinates for you as well as a request for you to contact me once she’s been successfully recovered.”

Too stunned to speak, Richard could do little more than blink and stare whilst Vega (who _had_ no such qualms and who didn’t trust Ladon as far as she could throw him), demanded scornfully, “Oh yeah? Well, what’s in it for you? You’re being helpful.”

On screen, Radim smirked. “I don’t suppose you’d believe me if I were to say I generally like and admire Miss Sheppard and have no wish to see her ill-used?”

Vega scowled. “For the last time, it’s Major not Miss – she’s got a rank, use it. And no, for the record, I _don’t_ believe you so try again.”

“Very Well,” he conceded amused as always by the captain’s acerbic and yet endearing attitude which, in many ways, reminded him of Sora. “You’re correct. In truth, while I do admire her, I have a secondary motivation.”

“Well, that’s a surprise,” Chuck snorted.

“Not really,” the Genii countered. “It may surprise you to know but, since I began chancellor, many of our best researchers have been trying to build our own ships so that we may actively achieve space flight. It’s going well but not well enough to convince my Treasury Advisor or the Genii people to continue funding it.”

“I see,” says Woolsey, finding his voice. “So, in exchange for your information on Major Sheppard you’re hoping for…”

“Technical assistance,” Ladon explained. “And perhaps later, Dr. McKay might even consent to look over our designs.”

“I’m sure he would,” Woolsey agreed. “Then, we have an agreement?”

“We do,” he replied gesturing at someone off-screen to presumably send them the coordinates before reminding them he wanted an update on whether or not she was returned safe, “Until then, Mr. Woolsey. Captain.”

The monitor blanked and Banks let out a heavy breath, “Well, that was weird.”  

“I’ll say,” Vega agrees, “It’s like we’re in the fucking ‘Twilight Zone’. Hey, Chuck! You verify those coordinates?”

He nodded. “Yep. Ancient data-base says it’s a swamp so, maybe pack forest gear?”

“That sounds about right,” said Amelia, frowning as she turned to look at Woolsey, “Except, now we’ve got another problem.”

He blinked. “And that problem is?”

“There’s no one here, all our teams are already out and Colonel Sheppard’s still not answering any of our hails. Who the hell are we gonna send?”

Who indeed, Woolsey wondered as he considered how probable it’d be to recall either Captain Ryan or maybe Major Teldy to do the extraction. For expedience (and because past experience had taught them Michael never stayed still for long), the idea was shelved and instead Woolsey volunteered himself to lead the mission along with a sling wearing Captain Vega, Chuck the gate Technician, Peirce the pastry chef/retired Cold War Navy Seal and Dimitri (who by stroke of luck turned out to be ex- KGB). The five of them together went through the gate, coming out on a richly forested and decidedly un-swamp-like world exactly thirty-six minutes after Ladon had called.

“So, which way?” Vega asked looking to Woolsey (who looked patently ridiculous in his borrowed boonie, city casuals and the tac vest he insisted he wear) for direction. “North? South? What’s the thingy say?”

Confused, and squinting down at his life-signs detector like it was a magic eight ball, the director did a complete three-sixty before ultimately facing east. “It’s this way, I think. Or maybe – no,” he turned, now he was facing south-west, “…it’s this way,” and then he started walking.

~xXx~

Originally, when looking for the next candidate on which to perpetuate his experiments, Sheppard’s sister seemed the perfect solution. He’d been gathering intelligence since their introduction, admittedly curious about this new player and how much sway she purportedly had over not only her brother but his wraith ally as well. The Eldest’s reputation preceded him and, in the eyes of many, himself included, was considered the embodiment of wraith authority and power.  To therefore discover he and the Atlantian’s Todd were one in the same had been, not just surprising, but also problematic for a variety of reasons the most concerning of which was the revelation he considered Atlantis to be under his protection.

With that knowledge, Michael knew he must be cautious. To attack them outright would be to risk the Eldest’s ire but, as he’d already reasoned, even his influence only extended so far. Still, it never hurt to exercise prudence when conducting his affairs and, in the grand scheme of things, finding someone who despised the Atlantians enough to even consider working with a former wraith wasn’t as difficult as he’d imagined. The Genii had always been rather full of themselves, particularly their leaders; believing their sphere of influence and power to be much more extensive than it actually was. The fact that Atlantis habitually challenged that perception made recruiting an ally from amongst their most disgruntled foreign ministers almost laughably easy – especially when he revealed the Atlantian he was interested in acquiring was none other than Colonel Sheppard’s sister, Katherine of Atlantis.

Apparently, this minister had an issue with her and when pressed, agreed to not only provide the necessary information but also make all the arrangements. He’d hired mercenaries to execute her capture and promised to provide additional security in the event he wished to move her. He did, but not until after she’d conceived which brought him back to his current dilemma, the frustrating inability to make Sheppard’s sister submit to heel.

Stubborn was a very mild way of addressing her tenacity. Where Teyla had stood still seething in silent, self-righteous fury her counterpart paced back and forth raging like a cyclonic storm. Her vehemence was impressive, magnificent even and, if not for the fact her temper was obstructing his plans, he’d be impressed. Regardless though, he was beginning to suspect he’d not thought this through as carefully as he ought. The Eldest’s esteem, which he now believed to be more truth than malicious rumor, appeared to have been justly won as evidenced by how easily she learned to manipulate her mind and the minds of others. In less than seven hours since the time he injected her with his wraith retrovirus, Katherine was able to mentally push and pull, coerce, compel and restrain effectively ending any and all attempts made by her intended mate to get anywhere near her.

Were her claims of the Eldest comparing her to a queen not true before, they were most certainly true now and that was his fault. By attempting to make her more sexually compatible to his male wraith, he’d inadvertently done to her what he was still aggrieved her brother and the other Atlantians had done to him. She was a hybrid, perhaps not the same type of hybrid _he_ was, but a hybrid nonetheless albeit one still more inherently human. An accident on his part and for the first time he wondered if this is how Dr. Beckett had felt upon first realizing the consequences of his wayward actions; his attempts to play God.

In the meantime, he had a decision to make: let her go as he’d often wished Sheppard and the others to do for him or mitigate the damage. In one final act of retaliation against the abuses delivered onto him, he chose the latter. So now, how to adopt his tactics? Perhaps hunger would prove a more successful motivator since he already knew, his prisoner’s sense of self-preservation was stronger than most. Her compassion was stunted; all previous thoughts of her ceding to his demands out of empathy for her fellow captive vanishing upon review of their most recent exchange. Evidently, she was more wraith-like than human in her consideration of others and though they shared similar circumstances, those circumstances were not enough to invoke her sympathies.

Mmmnn, yes, hunger would do very nicely or maybe a rapport. It was possible he could build a relationship with her, he’d tried with Teyla but she was too stubbornly loyal to her people and Atlantis to even consider it. Katherine, on the other hand, while loyal to Sheppard in blood, seemed much more forgiving of the wraith as a species then any her constituents. Convincing her to stay with him of her own volition might be difficult but, it was potentially possible. Stockholm syndrome he believed the humans called it, the wraith called it emotional reliance.

“For you,” he offered, presenting her a dress as a contrived peace offering through the bars of her cell. “You might as well be comfortable while you continue to defy me.”

From the floor, his prisoner snorted without looking up. “Yeah right, ‘because I’m supposed to believe you care about my comfort level.” Her eyes narrowed and then briefly flicked towards her silent cellmate, “Get him some pants and then we’ll talk.”

Michael smiled, “If you like, I’m sure that can be arranged. But first, if you’d be so kind as to release him from your thrall, I’ve procured a meal for him.”

“Have you now?” Kate questioned, glancing towards him and the terrified human man hovering behind him. “Where’s my dinner?”

The hybrid’s grin festered. “Now, now, Katherine, I only provide so many amenities at one time. Which would you prefer the return of your modesty or something warm to put in your belly?”

Her eyes narrowed. Again with Michael not doing his homework, Kate didn’t have modesty but she did know how to play the game. “Yeah, that’s not going to work, you know I can go a _long_ time without food.”

“Perhaps,” he conceded, his eyes bright and infuriatingly mocking, “But even now, you are only human. Eventually your hunger will become too much to bear and then…then we’ll revisit my terms which I think you’ll find much more agreeable. Now, release him; I’ve no desire to go catch another wraith when this one was trouble enough.”

Incidentally pleased by the thought of anyone giving Michael trouble, Kate smirked before delving inwards to remove the mental compulsion she’d levied against her fellow captive to stay in his corner until she said otherwise. It was cruel she knew but since the only other option was getting raped Kate didn’t see she’d had much choice. The wraith started at finding himself free and unfolded slowly, rising incrementally to his feet as though afraid she’d push him down again if he moved too fast.

When he was standing, he glanced first in her direction as if seeking her permission before shuffling quickly towards his meal. Their captor was holding him against the bars in a similar way to how she’d once held Ford and, like Todd; this wraith wasted no time reaching between the bars to drain him dry in what had to be the fastest feeding she’d ever seen.

Apparently he was hungry and when he was done, Michael stripped the corpse of his pants; handing them and the dress to the surprised wraith before turning on his heel and leaving again. 

Kate sighed and held out her hand, nodding at the clothes, “May I?”

“Here,” he rasped, balling it up and throwing it at her before pulling on his own pilfered pants. He then retreated back to his corner, crossed his arms and proceeded to brood like a surly child.

He growled, “I am not a child!”

Her eyes narrowed. “Now who’s listening?” she quipped tugging the crumpled, gossamer type fabric over her head and then down her body. “Harder than it looks blocking people out, isn’t it?”

He didn’t answer and for the third time since having woken to find herself in this God forsaken cell, her and her cellmate descended into a tense, awkward silence punctuated only by the quiet sounds of each other’s breathing.  Michael, meanwhile, was on his way to his private quarters and when he heard a voice call out behind him.

“Going somewhere?”

Disturbed, he turned quickly and came face to face with a sadistically smiling, short human woman with one arm bound in a sling who immediately drew back and punched him in the face.

_Crunch!_

“That’s for Lorne!” she cried valiantly, her eyes sharp as the hybrid stumbled back whereupon she took aim before hitting him again – this time with her booted foot right between his legs. “And that’s for Laura!”

With a huff of air, Michael fell to the floor; his eyes watering, both hands protectively cradling his injured genitals and with copious amounts of blood dripping from his now broken nose. The female stood triumphantly over him breathing heavily, her shadow blocking him from seeing any her companions. He knew they were there and he knew, without having to ask, how they’d found him. The genii, the genii had betrayed him and now everything hurt. Everything – couldn’t she’ve shot him instead? In fact, he rather perfered…

“Michael, can you hear me? Michael?”

He hissed, lifting his head to a man in casual Atlantian dress addressing him cordially. “And who might you be?” he labored breathlessly.

“Richard Woolsey,” the man replied before asking, “Now, unless you’d like Captain Vega to hit you again, perhaps you’d be so kind as to tell us where Major Sheppard is?”

He coughed, “And if I don’t?”

From the rear, Dimitri called, “If you no talk, I shoot. Many time, much painful.”

“Me too, fucker,” Peirce seconded. “I’ll fucking pump you full of lead.”

Having no desire to suffer more pain then absolutely necessary, and with his current injury beginning to subside, Michael capitulated by nodding back down the hall. “There, that way. And she’s unharmed, I assure you.”

Woolsey frowned. “Yes, well, you’ll forgive us if we don’t believe you,” he replied before turning to both the Navy Seal and the Russian doctor. “Secure him as best you can and prepare him for transport, he’s coming with us. In the meantime, Sergeant Campbell, Captain Vega, if you’d both please come with me…”

They nodded, following him single file down the hall in the direction Michael’d indicated. It took a while, and they had to turn left twice, but eventually they found the brig and upon entering breathed a collective sigh of relief seeing Kate alive and relatively unharmed. “Are you – ” Woolsey spied movement in the corner and, upon seeing the wraith, reached the same obvious conclusion she had a day and a half prior.

So did Vega. “Aw, hell no!!” she screeched, stomping up to the bars with a look of indignant fury. “Pendejo desgraciado4, I’m gonna kill him. The fuck’s this!?!?!”

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” said Kate having previously stood when she’d first felt them coming. “I know it looks bad but it’s really not. Seriously, he’s been in timeout for like the last six hours – ”

“Eight,” the wraith corrects from his corner, no longer caring if he seems impertinent or not. Apparently, the female is about to be rescued and he, presumably, is about to be killed. “I have been trapped here for the past eight hours because you imposed your will and forced me – ”

“Yeah well, now you know how it feels and it’s your own fault, jackass,” she spat vilely. ” _You_ tried to force _me_ first, remember!?!”

He snarled, “I did yes, but only because if I failed to at _least_ make the attempt, my own life would have been forfeit! Therefore, like you, I chose – ”

“Hey, wait a minute, whoa! Back up.” Alicia eyed them, “So lemme get this straight: Michael kidnappers you, locks you in a cell with him, tells him to fuck you or die and somehow he couldn’t because you did something to him and what the _hell_ does that even mean!?!”

Kate sighed and rather than delay the inevitable, explained tersely, “It means, I now have wraith DNA because apparently having wraith DNA significantly increases my chances of conception.”

Woolsey blinked. “But…you’re sterile.”

Behind her, the wraith’s eyes went wide while Kate bitterly nodded, “Yeah, I know that and you know that – and Todd knows that – but apparently Michael didn’t do all of his homework.”

Vega started laughing. “Well, _this_ is hilarious.”

“Yeah,” said Chuck, “Except for the part where you got shot and Cadman and Lorne are in a coma.”

Kate’s temper immediately darkened. “Are they alright?”

“They will be,” Woolsey assured, feeling his own worry giving way with the knowledge his surrogate daughter was well, safe and relatively unharmed. His gaze slipped sideways, “What about him?”

Kate contemplated. “Well, technically he didn’t do anything – ”

“To you maybe,” Chuck reminded them. “But all those other girls – ”

“Hey,” said Vega, “I don’t know if we can really blame him for all of them. I mean, we all know which team _I_ bat for but if somebody were to lock _me_ up and then tell me _I_ had to ride dick or die, you can bet your ass I’d be reverse cowgirl-ing it all the way to the finish line!”

Amused, Kate snickered.

Woolsey, on the other hand, looked briefly skywards as if the ceiling could somehow offer him patience and guidance. “Yes, thank you Captain for that colorful analogy.” He faced the wraith, “If we let you go, I trust it won’t come back and…bite us in the ass later?”

He shook his head and solemnly held the director’s eyes. “You have my word.”

Woolsey nodded.  “Good.”

~xXx~

Colonel Shepard was in a bad mood. Why? Well, for starters, Todd’d lied to them again – well okay, maybe he hadn’t _lied._ But he’d definitely withheld critical need to know information. And when caught, he of course tried pulling that ‘well, at the time, you _didn’t_ need to know’ crap before reluctantly conceding and issuing an apology. Still, after all this time, it was the principal of the thing and the principle was John wanted to shoot him. He didn’t though. He refrained, though at times it was a near miss.

Especially considering how he’d managed to rope them in to going along with his latest scheme.

“No,” he proclaimed. “I’m not doing it. Period, paragraph, end of story.”

Todd sighed, “Well, that’s regrettable. I suppose then I’ll have to wait, perhaps until Katherine becomes available. How is she, by the way? Well I hope. Admittedly, I had wanted to see but I understand she is otherwise preoccupi – ”

“Alright! Fine,” John snapped disliking the idea of him spending any more time with Kate than absolutely necessary. And thankfully, Ronon and Teyla seemed to agree. “Just tell us what we’ve gotta do,” the Setedan grumbled.

So they went and, as always, things went sideways. _Very_ sideways. The only upside being that with Todd’s insistence he come along, it was him not them who sprang the centuries old booby-trap that covered whoever was under it in a bucket of sludge. John had laughed, loudly, while his team and even their wraith worshiper guide had joined in. Everyone except Todd the mud covered, glaring, I-have-leaves-in-my-hair wraith. John ignored him, waiting patiently for him to take a shower after going back to the hive before reminding him of why they were there.

“So, you’ll do it?” he asked nervously thinking that maybe, in retrospect, making fun of him down on the planet hadn’t been such a good idea. Fortunately, having actually retrieved what they’d gone to get, Todd was in a good mood and inclined to be forgiving.  

“Of course,” he replied pleasantly, almost _too_ pleasantly, as if everything they’d done in the past two days was just icing on the cake. Bastard. “And what’s more, I’ll be volunteering myself to be your first test subject.”

John blinked. “Really?”

“Indeed.”

“What’s the catch?”

“No catch,” he insisted before going on to further explain that, in the event something should go wrong like it did last time, they’d be more invested in saving his life than anyone else’s.

A good point, John admitted as the six of them piled into the jumper and headed back to the city. It was empty, like really empty, complete with radio silence and Woolsey not answering his comm.

Rodney panicked, “What if there’s been another blackout or another quarantine!?!? What if – ”

“The lights are still on, genius,” said John dryly. “And besides, maybe everyone’s asleep. What time is it anyway!?!”

“Zero two hundred,” Ronon replied.

Well, that made sense. “Right, it’s two in the morning, so how ‘bout you and your wife go check-in down in the infirmary while the rest of us go figure out what’s going on. Todd, you too, let’s go.”

Leaving the jumper bay, they reached the control room to find Banks, and only Banks, at her console guarding the DHD. “Sergeant?”

She looked up, her eyes narrowing instantly upon seeing who it was. “Colonel, where’ve you been? You know we’ve been trying to get a hold of you for two days, right!?!”

He stopped in front of her. “No Banks, as a matter of fact I didn’t. We were top-side and out of com range – ”

“Don’t care Sir, really. Lorne’s team was attacked and we needed you. Why didn’t the hive call down and tell you we needed you to come back? We left messages.”

Shit, John thought and was almost afraid to ask, “I – is everyone alright?”

She shook her head. “Cadman and Lorne had to be sent back to Earth for surgery, Vega broke her arm and got shot, and Kate – ”

His heart clenched. 

“ – Got kidnapped by our friendly neighborhood hybrid so she could help him make more. Don’t know all the details but the whole city’s out looking for her, even Woolsey. In fact, he should be back any minute n – ”

 _WHOOSHK!_ The gate activated, spinning to life just in time to prevent anyone (especially Todd who looked absolutely _livid_ ) from asking her any questions. Instead, three of the four rushed forwards while the fourth followed bit more calmly before coming to a halt behind the others, the quartet now clustering at the top of the gateroom stairs. The first person through was Vega followed closely by Dimitri, Pierce and the extremely unhappy bound, bloody and pissed off looking Michael. Chuck was next after which the missing Kate arrived and then Woolsey bringing up the rear. 

“Honey, we’re home!” the captain called, spying the colonel upon which she gestured grandly behind her in a very Vanna White type of motion, “’Sup sir, lookie who we caught. Happy birthday!”

Sheppard snorted. “You’re early, my birthday’s not ‘til next month but it’s the thought that counts.”

“Thank you, sir,” she grinned, retreating to the side as Kate and Woolsey shuffled up to meet him. It was then John caught sight of what his sister was wearing, a dress so sheer it made her black leather one look like a nun’s habit.

Before he could comment however, Chewie had his back. “The hell are you wearing?” he demanded.

Kate scoffed. “What this? This is an improvement, I _was_ naked. For two days.”

“Two _days!?!_ ” John parroted looking tremendously displeased with this development. He turned to Michael, “You!!” he ordered, “Start talking, whadid you – ”

“No,” he heard a voice breathe from directly behind him drawing his attention, along with everyone else’s, to a startled and very perplexed looking wraith.

His expression worried him. Kate was right, wraith really weren’t meant to look bewildered.  “Ah Todd?” he began questioningly, growing increasingly nervous the longer their ally stood there and stared, “You ah, maybe wanna fill us in someth – ”

“No,” he said again, this time stepping out from behind Sheppard in order to better seek the source of this unprecedented feeling, this new _awareness_ , only to then be caught by Katherine’s piecing gaze. He froze recognizing her for what she was, for the change that allowed him to sense her in every pore and every nerve ending in his entire body.

“It’s not possible,” he murmured starting forwards, completely heedless to the number of humans currently staring at him or calling his name. He ignored them because they didn’t matter. Nothing mattered save the female pulling him towards her; summoning him with a command only her eyes conveyed.

_Todd._

He stopped in front of her, tilting his head as his expression begged a question his words were afraid to ask.

Why?

“Conception,” she replied almost inaudibly, noticing as she spoke the way his eyes imperceptibly widened and his hands twitched. “Apparently, it’s easier to make a hybrid if the mom’s already got wraith DNA.”

“Conception,” he echoed hoping the repetition would, in some small way, make everything more real. It did and so he felt the burning hot and acidic taste of jealousy burn in the back of his throat while claws of fear and anger scratched separately at his spine. He snarled, grabbing her shoulders quite suddenly while drawing her to him.

“Did he force you?” he whispered almost not wanting to know the answer.

She shook her head. “No, he didn’t. I baited him though, trying to get him into the cell so I could either kill him or incapacitate him. There was another wraith, a pretty young one, male, in the cell with me. He didn’t touch me either.”

 _How unfortunate_ , thought Todd bitterly for while he was glad she’d escaped unscathed he desperately wanted a reason to slaughter something. Instead, he asked if she was sure before insuring her that, whatever her answer, his ire was not for her, he was not mad and it was not her fault.

John, on the other hand, was furious. “Well I am!” he proclaimed loudly, “And you, stop touching her. Damn it Todd, she’s not yours!”

“Yet,” uttered Dimitri conspiratorially, earning a murderous glare from the military leader.

“What was that?” he demanded, fingering the trigger on his P-90.

“Nothing,” the botanist lied, “I say nothing. Me and cupcake man, we take Michael to brig now ya?”

Woolsey nodded. “Yes, that might be best. At least until we figure out what we’re doing with him.”

“Right, about that,” Chuck began, “We know he’s got a pretty big spy network and more fingers and pies than anyone else other then, well _you_ ,” he said to Todd. “I don’t suppose you have a nice, shiny collar you could put on him do you, or maybe a leash? Possibly both?”

The wraith grinned. “I’m sure I could find something provided he cooperates.”

“And if I don’t?” he questioned, lifting his chin in a final act of defiance that amused everyone because lord knows, Todd wasn’t exactly tolerant.

The Eldest sneered, “Then I shall enjoy teaching you why even the queens fear me and my reputation. For instance, did you know it is possible to reanimate the body after death with the gift of life? I can kill you over and over and over again until eventually, your mind shatters and your body becomes little more than a living, breathing puppet to command at my will.”

Michael paled.

So did everyone else.

“Well damn,” Peirce muttered, “I sure as hell ain’t ever gonna piss _you_ off. Colonel, maybe you should just let him have her. ‘S probably safer.”

“Yes and speaking of safer,” said Woolsey, turning to Kate, “It’s probably best if you head down to the infirmary. Todd can escort you, can’t you Todd?”

“It would be my pleasure,” he replied, pulling back from her only to immediately bow and offer his arm. “Katherine.”

She took it, threading her own arm through his before allowing him to lead her away; disappearing quickly down an adjacent hall.

In their wake, her brother glared and turned to Woolsey. “Whose side are you on!?!” he demanded.

“Not yours,” the director snapped feeling the sudden need to make this one point abundantly clear, leaving no room for doubt. “I made a promise, Colonel, to David; a promise I intend to keep. I had a daughter once, a stepdaughter Allison, and I lost her because I wasn’t willing to fight for her; to take her mother to court and sue for partial custody. Now granted, Kate’s not a child but I love her as though she were mine and this time, I won’t be making the same mistake again. Perhaps it’s time you consider your interests and hers might not be the same thing.”

“I…” How do you respond to that? “I just wanna protect her.”

“So protect her,” said Woolsey, “Nobody’s stopping you. But there’s a point were protection quickly turns into you trying to control someone by calming it’s for their own safety. Governments do it all the time and colonel? Kate’s not a little girl anymore. She’s a woman, a damned good one, and she’s fully capable of making her own decisions – and her own mistakes. Trust her, I know I do. Now excuse me, I need to send Ladon a message telling him your sister was returned safe and sound.”

John was confused. “Ladon? As in the Genii? Why’s he care?”

Richard sighed, “I’ll tell you but first we have to stop by Kate’s office.”

“I didn’t know Kate _had_ an office,” the colonel sputtered, “Why does she need one?”

With a smile, Woolsey patted his shoulder and then began to explain.

~xXx~

**Translations and Vocabulary for this chapter:**

**1 SO: Superior officer**

**2 Ledi: Russian word meaning Lady, spelled how it’s pronounced. **

**3 Querido Dios por qué, por qué: Spanish for ‘Dear God, why!?! Why!?!?!’ according to Google Translate (P.S. feel free to correct my syntax if any of you actually speak Spanish. I, sadly, do not). **

**4 Pendejo desgraciado: Spanish insult roughly translated as ‘fucking bastard’  **

**A note on Dimitri - I wrote his dialogue in order to simulate a Russian accent when spoken aloud. That said, I'm well aware hald of it's mispelled and that the other half had terrible grammar; this was intentional. I based him off a teacher I had in high school and a couple of Russian friends I have. This is how they talk, or how it sounds like they talk (please don't hurt me!!)**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hi guys!!! So, lemme just say right off the bat, this chapter’s had a lot of issues and right now I’m mostly positing it so I don’t have to look at it anymore. That being said, there are a couple of things wrong with it the first being it’s incredibly short; the second, I’m still not happy with it and the third; I’ll probably go back and edit/make changes later but the plot’s fixed so, at least here’s that. This is a Woolsey chapter and getting inside that man’s head is both incredibly difficult and a pain in the ass so go easy on me, will you? I’ll fix it later, I promise.
> 
> Oh, and if anyone has any ideas on where I might be able to add some length, please, please, PLEASE let me know. I tried, it sat at about 12,000 words for three months and I just couldn’t make it any longer. I finally stopped trying at around 15,000 and basically, at this point, I’m just moving words around so please don’t get mad. I’m very aware this chapter’s not my best work but it’s unfortunately necessary for the rest of the story so I couldn’t just skip it even if I wanted to (and I did, really I did). Anyway, so please take pity and leave a comment even if it's only to say, "Well, that sucked!!" or "What took so long!?!" 
> 
> Use discretion and I'll see you next time,
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> P.S. I know I promised fan-art with this one, but I'm having trouble getting the file to upload. I'll keep trying, please don't hurt me!!!
> 
> P.S.S. As of 2/26/2018 this chapter has been editted and updated as promised. Please let me know what ya'll think of the chnages.


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